Episodes

Greg interviews James Clark, the founder of , a website and newsletter focused on transport and urban development in Southeast Asia. The guys begin with the most exciting developments in Thailand’s railway system, and James mentions the 250 km/hr...

Greg and Ed discuss one of the pillars of Thai culture, the general attitude of ‘mai pen rai’ or ‘no problem.’ As the guys have mentioned many times, this attitude is one of the main reasons that living in Thailand is so enjoyable for expats. Thai people tend to be less confrontational, less prone to anger, and less likely to take offense than Westerners, making living in ‘The Land of Smiles’ a fairly easy transition for most people. But can this approach be taken too far? The guys think so. A ...

Mental health in Thailand has never really had its time in the spotlight, but things are slowly changing as more and more Thais realize that taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your physical health. On this episode we are joined by Amy Pothong, a licensed counselor and founder of Golden Leaf Therapy and Counseling in Phuket. Amy walks us through the landscape of mental health in Thailand, including some of the reasons that the subject is often taboo, with e...

In our semi-annual update on Thai politics, Ed does his best to explain the current situation and how Thailand arrived here over the last ten years. He begins with the framework that defined Thai politics for almost 15 years: one party led by the Shinawatra clan that was populist and relied on the support of Thai farmers in the Northeast and the conservative Democratic Party and military establishment that represented the middle class and above relied on support from Bangkok. While the populist ...

Greg and Ed discuss the ‘delivery lifestyle,’ the habit of staying at home and relying on delivery services to bring food and products straight to your doorstep. Both guys admit to slipping into this habit, but Greg enjoys getting out more and tooling around town in his fancy automobile, so it’s Ed that has really embraced this habit. The question is this: Is it good or bad? Ed begins with some obvious pros: it’s super convenient and allows you to avoid the stress of traffic and crowds, somethi...

Greg welcomes back Patrick Winn to the podcast, an intrepid writer and expert on all things dark and shady in Southeast Asia. He previously appeared on the show to discuss his book “Hello Shadowlands,” and he returns to explain his new work, “Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Survived The CIA.” Patrick begins by explaining the unique political situation that the country of Myanmar is in right now. Besides a literal civil war, portions of the country, such as the ‘Wa State’ in t...

Putting on their best tarot reading hat…or numerology hat…or tea leaf hat…whatever…Greg and Ed make their best prognostications about the future of Bangkok, relying only on their accumulated wisdom and experience. Greg begins by asking Ed whether Bangkok will ever solve its ‘sinking’ problem, and Ed responds pessimistically. Although the science is clear that the sea is rising and Bangkok is sinking, the government does not seem to be taking any drastic action to address the impending calamity, ...

Greg interviews Dominic Faulder, associate editor at Nikkei Asia, long-time journalist in Southeast Asia and observer of the political and diplomatic machinations of Myanmar, and Thailand and Vietnam over the past 40 years. The main thesis of the episode is this: How should a country such as Thailand respond when its neighbor Myanmar is in the midst of a destabilizing civil war? Dominic begins by pointing out what’s different about the current situation compared with events in its turbulent pas...

In the wake of Ed’s recent high school reunion, Greg and Ed discuss how to sell Thailand to all different types of people, especially those who have only learned about the place through stories, TV and often dubious word of mouth.  The Land of...

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 somewhere - 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...

On part 2 of 2 Greg continues his interview with returning show favorite, Phra Pandit on the Buddhist interpretation of the Seven Deadly Sins of western religion. Without wasting any time they pick up where they left off last week and dive right into it with sloth, one of Greg’s favorites. Defined in Buddhism as ‘torpor’ or ‘indolence’ Phra Pandit explains that in Buddhism this trait tends to hinder meditation, and can lead to someone being withdrawn and apathetic, which of course is not somethi...

Greg interviews returning show favorite, Phra Pandit on the Buddhist interpretation of the Seven Deadly Sins of western religion. After a brief introduction explaining Phra Pandit’s current (temporary) abode in Toronto, Canada, the guys get down to business. First, Phra Pandit notes that in his work with highly varied groups of people, there is often agreement on ‘good’ and ‘bad’ qualities in people. That being said, he notes that not every religion would necessarily value each quality equally. ...

Having had the somewhat unenviable (?) POV of living in Bangkok both in their 20s AND in their late 40s (and more), Greg and Ed pro/con Bangkok for different age groups. Is Bangkok really a city for twenty-somethings or fifty-somethings? Greg begins by focusing on the older crowd. On the plus side, Bangkok offers many social opportunities that have a cultural bent, such as the Siam Society, museum groups, and even gourmet restaurants that tend to appeal to a more mature crowd with disposable tim...

Greg and Ed interview Dave Lawrence of about the technicalities of divorce in Thailand. Although Ed previously discussed his big ‘D’ on an earlier show, his situation was so simple that it’s probably not representative of the typical divorce....

Greg and Ed perform an interesting test of the current state of AI: can you actually trust what different AI’s have to say about Bangkok and Thailand? Greg uses ChatGPT, while Ed is a Google guy through and through, so Gemini it is. The first question involves a bit of Thai history: exactly when and for how long did Thailand use a red flag with a white elephant? Proper research reveals the correct answer is 1855-1917, but ChatGPT misses by a wide mark, with an answer of 1917 to 2017 (!). Gemini ...

This is Part Two of Greg and Ed’s interview with Paul and Yuangrat Wedel, returning guests to the show who previously talked about their book “Radical Thought, Thai Mind.” This time around the fascinating couple discuss their two novels, “Beads On A String” and “Dark Karma,” each historical fiction based in Southern Thailand. In this part of the interview, the couple focus on the historical characters and events that are interwoven into the fictional narrative. Greg asks about the sensitivity of...

Greg and Ed interview Paul and Yuangrat Wedel, returning guests to the show who previously talked about their book “Radical Thought, Thai Mind.” This time around the fascinating couple discuss their two novels, “Beads On A String” and “Dark Karma,” each historical fiction based in Southern Thailand. The two begin with a discussion of the origin of the novels. In short, Yuangrat grew up in the deep South of Thailand with a family of mixed ethnicity, including Thai, Malay, Mon, and Chinese ancest...

Continuing our regional focus of late, Greg and Ed discuss Ed’s recent trip to Hong Kong and how it compares to big, bad Bangkok. Ed begins with a big caveat: he’s not really much of a traveler, and he spent only 2 ½ days in Hong Kong, so his take is that of a true noob. That being said, Ed begins on the positive side, noting how geographically beautiful the city is, being situated on mountainous islands that present incredible photo opportunities. However, when compared to Bangkok, Ed found a ...

Wrapping up our short series on our regional podcast peers, Greg interviews Joah McGee from the . Joah begins by explaining his early life in Myanmar and how he initially went to the country to study meditation and later secured a proper job doing...

In a possible new series, Greg and Ed discuss things that have become less important or meaningful since they began living in Thailand. In short, stuff that we used to value a lot that just seems not to matter as much anymore. Ed begins with the somewhat obvious: clothes in general just matter a lot less. Never a fashion guy, Bangkok’s ‘uni-season’ is perfect for him since he can basically wear the same thing all year round. Greg - famous for his consistent shorts/t-shirt/vans outfit, concurs t...

Greg interviews Mike Tatarski of the . Mike begins by explaining the podcast originated out of his of the same name. After taking a course in ‘entrepreneurial journalism,’ he got motivated to fire up the podcast, and the rest is history. He...

Greg and Ed revisit the 2006 coup in Thailand and reminisce about the oddness but also impactfulness of the experience. Ed begins with a quick recap of the career of Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire business tycoon who swept to power (democratically) in 2000 on a promise to fix the Thai economy which was still reeling from the 1997 financial crisis. He did in fact manage to stabilize the economy and easily won re-election in 2004. Although controversies did mar his terms, his ability to repay...

Greg interviews Clif from about the ever evolving craft beer scene in Thailand. Cliff begins with the basic premise for the website and related social media: to act as a guide for locals and visitors to all the beer drinking opportunities in Bangkok,...

Greg and Ed try a new type of show in which they troll their memories for extreme experiences, something that expats in Thailand seem to have a lot of. Greg begins with his scariest experience in Thailand. As a relative noobie, he engaged the services of a shady visa firm and was later called out on it by the Canadian Embassy. At the time, he didn’t know if a heavy fine, deportation, or even jail was in order, but luckily he got away with a much smaller punishment. Ed follows with a different ty...