Episodes

Greg interviews returning guest Stu Jay Raj - polyglot, expert language teacher and man about town. Greg begins by asking Stu about his recent series of videos analyzing the second language capabilities of various celebrities, including Jon Cena and Robert DeNiro. Stu responds by explaining his MindKraft program, which is kind of a general learning system that can be applied to languages of all types, from linguistics to music to computer coding. Stu expounds his belief that the human brain is n...

Greg and Ed sit down with old friends and travel experts Trevor Ranges and Scott Coates of the podcast. The guys run through a whole range of questions: How do you first come to Thailand? How did you meet each other? How do you...

Continuing the series on the 7 Deadly Sins, Greg and Ed address the envious Envy. Of course, we love Bangkok, but no place is perfect - so, what are some things in other countries that we are envious of from our perch here? Greg begins by looking over the fence at coffee culture in Vietnam. Presumably due to French influence, Vietnam has an insane number of local cafes that take coffee (and ice cream, as Ed points out) deadly seriously. The strict government helps to keep Western chains to a min...

Greg interviews Mark Siegel, the director of , one of Asia’s largest golf tour operators. Greg opens with the caveat that neither he nor Ed are golfers and leaves it up to Mark to do his best to sell us on a golf holiday in the Land of Smiles. ...

In this episode, Greg fills us in on all the special concerns of being a parent in Bangkok. As if being a parent on its own didn’t have enough surprises, it turns out there are several things to keep in mind if you are expecting or even just bringing a child to the Big Mango. Pre-eminent is of course the issue of proper schooling, be it Thai or international or some combination of both. Greg explains the 3 C’s - cost, commute, and curriculum - that all new parents must build their life around. A...

Greg interviews Kru Nan from the “You Too Can Learn Thai” podcast. Greg begins with the theory of the ‘critical period,’ that the human brain is primed to learn languages early in life but not later. Kru Nan notes that the research is not final and that adults might actually have some advantages over children. For example, adults may be able to absorb more information more quickly and also to contextualize it because of their pre-existing knowledge about the way the world works. Next, Greg and K...

Greg and Ed discuss some negative expat stereotypes - roughly the person you (probably) don’t want to become while living in Thailand...at least forever. We all fall prey to stereotypes sometimes - they have to come from some where - but if you’re not careful, you can become comfortable with some of these lifestyles and before you know it, they come to define your new identity in your new home, and suddenly you’re known as The Whiner, or The Apologist. And that’s just the beginning! Heaven forbi...

Greg interviews about the bombing of Bangkok during World War II. Beginning with a discussion about how Thai people today perceive Thailand’s involvement in the Second World War, K. Panarat notes that many Thais’ attitudes are actually shaped by...

On a suggestion from listener Emily, Greg and Ed go back to basics with book and movie recommendations for people new to Thailand and Southeast Asia, or old-timers looking to refresh their knowledge after being disconnected during all this covid hullabaloo. Ed begins with three foundational books: the all-time classic ‘Lonely Planet Thailand,’ written by friend of the podcast Joe Cummings, the insightful (if a bit outdated) ‘Culture Shock: Thailand,’ and the super creative ‘Very Thai,’ by Philli...

Things are not so great right now, and they’re even more desperate for people who live on the edge, which is why we’re pleased to chat with Friso Poldervaart, Greg Lange, and Kerv Chittaropas about their organization Bangkok Community Help . The three are instrumental in providing the community of over 100,000 with food, medical supplies, living essentials and care packages in Khlong Toey, Bangkok’s biggest slum community. The discussion gets into the history of Khlong Toey, how the English word...

Ed relates his 4-day adventure in the much-reported-on Phuket Sandbox. But spoiler alert: It wasn’t a great trip, mostly due to bad luck: it was gray and rainy almost the entire time, thus denying him quality beach time. Oh well. But what was not bad luck was the way that the Thai government has marketed the Sandbox. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has repeatedly stated that Phuket is ‘open’ to tourism as of July 1st, and Ed took that to mean that the most popular area on the island, Patong, w...

Greg and Ed bare their souls and discuss how living in Thailand has changed them for the better - and for the worse. Greg begins by noting that since being in Thailand he has a much greater appreciation for the life struggles of the average person, in Thailand as well as the rest of the world. Raised middle class in the West, it is easy to see yourself as ‘normal,’ when in reality you are quite lucky compared to many people around the world. Ed then observes that living overseas has helped him ...

It’s a dream of many to move to Thailand and start their own business - be it a spiffy e-commerce site, a beer bar on a beach, or some type of consultancy. But navigating the tricky cultural and bureaucratic hurdles isn’t something to be taken lightly. We’re joined by Derek van Pelt , a Thailand resident for 24 years and someone who has had a number of successes in a variety of different arenas. Currently a partner at Stonelotus Ventures and a long-time friend of Greg and Ed’s, Derek talks about...

Diving into one of their more complex topics, Greg and Ed explore some of the questions that arise when raising a child with an appreciation for skepticism and science in the middle of a culture known for its superstitious beliefs. With Ed teaching a critical thinking class to Thai college students and Greg’s son asking questions about ghosts and praying, the boys have some interesting insights. Greg stresses the delicacy of parents in his situation: were he to directly state his opinion that gh...

Greg interviews Chin Chongtong, the founder of , a food-based tourism company in Bangkok. Khun Chin first relates her difficult early days as an untrained tour guide, giving informal tours around Bangkok, having to negotiate both massive floods and...

On this show the guys keep it real by discussing things they do not like about being an expat. Plus, patrons and listeners write in with their own pet peeves about being a stranger in the strange land of Thailand. Ed begins with his number one complaint: being mistaken for a tourist. Even after 20 years in Thailand, he is still clearly not Thai, and Thais (especially those looking to make a buck) assume that ‘not-Thai’ equals tourist. This annoyance manifests itself in many ways, from constant p...

Greg and Ed interview Dr. Sarah Taylor, the Canadian Ambassador to Thailand to discuss her role in Thailand, Thailand’s role in Asia, and what Canada and Thailand have in common...and don’t have in common. Ambassador Taylor comes from a long line of diplomats, with parents who met while on mission overseas. Once bitten by the travel bug, she ended up majoring in archaeology but later began a career in the Canadian foreign service. She has had stints in several countries around the world, includi...

The guys return to their ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ series to discuss the sin of ‘Sloth.’ Greg notes in an introduction that sloth can be a little hard to define in that all the other sins involve actively doing something, whereas sloth of course can refer to simply being really lazy. The guys agree that for the purposes of the show they will rule out simply staying home and being a slug on the couch to answer the question - what are some of the best ways to spend a day in Bangkok being as slothful as ...

Greg and Ed interview Oliver Ackermann, one of the co-producers of the Thailand-based Netflix series “The Serpent,” about 1970s era serial killer Charles Sobhraj. Oliver is a partner in Living Films, a prominent production company based in Thailand famous for shepherding large foreign productions (such as Hangover 2, which our buddy Chris Lowenstein talked about on season 1 ) through the maze of Thai government regulations as well as Thai culture in general. Oliver walks through his process of f...

This is the second episode of Greg and Ed’s interview with Joe Cummings, expat extraordinaire. This episode begins with a bang as the guys discuss the future of cannabis in Thailand and then goes right into the kind of story that has to be heard to be believed, but basically it involves an attempted recruitment of Joe into the CIA while he was a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley. Enough said. The guys follow with a discussion of Joe’s take on the current round of prote...

Greg and Ed do a tag team interview of legendary Thailand expat Joe Cummings, a renaissance man and expert on Thai culture if there ever was one. Joining us during a break on his latest film role, Joe and Greg discuss how they met in the jungles of Mae Hong Son 18 years ago, and discuss how Joe went from being known primarily as a writer (most famously founding Lonely Planet Thailand) to being an actor, musician and consultant on Southeast Asian mythology and culture, most recently for the Disne...

Hey there! This type of content usually goes out to our patrons only, but we figured it was important and relevant to everyone, so we're putting it out to y'all! Our buddy Kevin and his wife Tip have just landed in Bangkok from the US after getting vaccinated and doing a whackload of paperwork. We check in with him to see what the process was like and get an idea of what people may have to deal with as they start to return to Thailand. Enjoy!

Utilizing a topic suggested by listener Wes, Greg and Ed discuss the unwritten ‘rules’ of Thai culture - the ones that everyone knows but aren’t written down anywhere, despite Ed wishing they were because he really has no idea what he’s doing right and wrong! As Greg notes, we all have to fake it until we make it. Greg then begins a series of specific puzzles that farangs have to navigate, including the proper use of the expletive ‘arai wa,’ knowing when or how much to lower your head when passi...

Greg interviews three local comedians, Justin St-Denis, Chris Raufheisen, and Tana Sukke, about life as a stand-up in Bangkok. After a few quick bios Greg dives right in with his brief experience as a standup in Canada and then later in Bangkok, which kicks off a discussion about the recent history of western-style stand-up comedy in Bangkok. Tana discusses the difficulty of doing comedy in a foreign language, as well as the difference between English comedy and Thai comedy. Greg and the gang tr...