The Bangkok Podcast

Greg and Ed take up the somewhat grim topic of motorbike accidents in Thailand. As this episode is essentially the Songkran episode for this year, the timing could not be more appropriate because more people die in road accidents during the '7 dangerous days' around the holiday than during any other time of the year. Ed takes the lead and tries to break down the situation. First, Thai roads in gen...

Greg interviews Pailin Chongchitnant of Hot Thai Kitchen , a returning guest from Season 3, Episode 4. Pailin begins with a basic introduction to her YouTube channel: she de-mystifies Thai cuisine (and how to cook it) to the English-speaking world. Each video typically encompasses one complete recipe, and she takes pains to make sure the steps are friendly to beginners as well as more advanced che...

Greg begins by explaining the momentous time we live in: soon there will be a general election in the Land of Smiles. He turns to Ed, allegedly a professor of political science, to give a primer (long 'i') on the upcoming election scene, but with a focus on how we got here in the first place.  Ed begins by going all the way back to the elections of 2000, when Thailand was reeling from the economic...

This is the second part of a two part interview with Paul and Yuangrat Wedel, longtime scholars and writers on Thai history and society. The first part of the interview focused on the roots of radicalism in Thai politics, especially the cultural impact of the Hindu 'sakdina' system. The second part begins with a discussion of the 1932 coup that led to the dissolution of absolute monarchy.  Paul ex...

Greg and Ed interview a fascinating and very erudite couple, Paul and Yuangrat Wedel. Paul, a native of New Jersey, met Yuangrat, a native of Nakhon Si Thammarat, in Bangkok in the late 1970s and through various twists and turns ended up both getting advanced degrees in the States and carrying on a romance and eventually getting married. (Their daughter, documentary filmmaker Pailin Wedel, is a fo...

Greg and Ed look at a few recent world rankings to see where Thailand fits into a world with nearly two hundred different countries. First, Greg brings up the 'Global Power City Index ,' a comprehensive ranking of 48 large cities around the world that focuses on a city's 'magnetism' or ability to attract visitors and expats. Greg outlines some of the factors measured, including livability, environ...

This is Part 2 of our epic interview with Richard Barrow, giant among expats in Thailand. In the second half of the discussion, Richard continues with explaining his slow rise as a 'citizen journalist,' first simply documenting his travels around Thailand, but eventually becoming a chronicler for English-speakers of daily events in the country. The yellow and red shirt political struggles and natu...

Greg and Ed meet the icon Richard Barrow in Samut Prakan and interview him about his unusual life in Thailand. Richard begins by explaining his life roaming Asia as a young man on his way to Australia. By chance he made some connections in Thailand at a small Thai school in Samut Prakan, leading to a quaint few weeks experiencing 'real' Thai culture, wholly separate from the normal touristed locat...

Unless you've been living under a rock lately, you've probably heard of ChatGPT, a brand new AI writing tool that produces some shockingly advanced stuff. It's only a few months old but it's already threatening to upend a number of industries in a big way. So, in a slightly odd show that shows how technologically hip the Bangkok Podcast is, Greg and Ed discuss ChatGPTs take on Bangkok and Thailand...

Ed interviews Sahajak "Poo" Boonthakit, Thai actor and entertainer. K. Poo begins by explaining his unusual childhood: his father was a Thai diplomat and when Poo was a young boy his family moved to Nairobi, Kenya, where Poo would spend the next 11 years. Poo discusses life in Kenya among Africans and Indians and white 'colonialists,' but also the incredible natural phenomena of the African savann...

Greg and Ed get all deep by asking the question "Is Thailand really the Land of the Free?" And what does "freedom" even mean? Many people know that the word 'Thailand' is supposed to translate as the 'Land of the Free.' The guys first discuss the etymology of the word, with both Google and linguist friends revealing the actual provenance of that translation is unknown, and it's possible that it is...

Greg interviews Justin Dunne of 'Bangkok Haunt ,' a tour company in Bangkok that focuses on Thai ghost stories and their relevant locations. Justin is an old friend of Greg's and after trading a few stories of the old days, the guys get into their mutual love of the city of Bangkok but also their mutual fascination with Thai spirit houses. Justin explains that his interest in Thai people's superna...

In a special listener voicemail show, Greg and Ed discuss what listeners miss most about Thailand. The guys go through a bunch of different messages, each expressing a unique characteristic of the Land of Smiles that keeps them pining for more. Starting off is Erich, with classic praise for Thai people themselves, which may be the country's greatest asset. A little further down the list is Jett fr...

We dive back into history with the remarkable story of Chang and Eng Bunker, more famously known as the Siamese Twins. Born and raised in Samut Songkhram province just south of Bangkok, they had a fateful encounter with a Scottish trader by the name of Robert Hunter - himself an interesting fellow - and their lives were never the same. Siam at the time was little more than a vague backwater "somew...

In Part Two of Ed's Thai lesson with guru Stu Jay Raj, the two push through Ed's sample Thai conversation. Stu continues to emphasize the importance of proper pronunciation of vowels, even going so far as to say it is more important than tones themselves. But Stu also gives several examples of Ed using sentence structures borrowed directly from English that, while grammatically correct in Thai, do...

Ed goes back to school and gets a Thai lesson from the master himself, Stu Jay Raj. Ed recounts a common backstory, wherein he made serious effort to learn Thai during his first two years in Thailand - and even ended up marrying his Thai language teacher! But after that, he more or less plateaued and is looking for a way to jump start (or jump 're-start') his Thai language learning.  In Part One o...

Greg interviews Bangkok-based lawyer Dave Lawrence about the ins and outs of foreigners owning land in Thailand. Dave begins with his backstory: he went to law school in Ohio where he met his future wife while she was getting a master's degree (also in law), and upon graduating they returned to Thailand for what was expected to be two years. That has now turned into 12 years, and in the meantime D...

In a show fueled by a visit by Greg's mother, the guys discuss first impressions of Bangkok, and whether or not they have become jaded as long term expats. Greg includes a short interview with his mom, but bases the show on all of her insights over the last few weeks as a relative newbie in Bangkok. First, Greg mentions that his mom finds Thailand very colorful, whether it's clothes, art, taxis, o...

Ed interviews Max and Jo Hellier of Root the Future, a small social enterprise based in Bangkok that promotes sustainable living and plant-based diets. Max and Jo begin with their origin story: Jo, a vegan and former model, and Max, a 'video dude,' developed a business concept for a boutique hotel in Thailand that had to be abandoned during COVID. Subsequently, they combined their talents and star...

Greg and Ed discuss a topic first brought up in a bonus show back in season 2: what to do about taxi drivers who won't take you where you want to go? Although there are no doubt many larger problems in Thailand, on a day to day basis, perhaps recalcitrant taxi drivers are the most annoying.  Ed runs through a gamut of possible solutions. The first is simply to somehow enforce the current law, whic...

Greg interviews Tim Koncewicz from electric tuk-tuk company MuvMi to chat about their mission to provide a safe and environmentally clean alternative to gas-powered tuk-tuks. Unlike normal taxis and old-school automobiles (pfft), MuvMi focuses on 'microtransit,' which means moving people within local communities instead of across town. So MuvMi might take you from one part of your neighborhood to...

Greg and Ed bare their souls with 'expat confessions': things in Thailand they are embarrassed to say they have never seen or done, but that they should have, given their years in the Kingdom.  Ed begins by admitting he's never travelled to Laos, Burma or Malaysia, despite them being right next door and highly recommended. Greg talks about some of his trips and agrees, it's a pretty startling omis...

Greg interviews Buddhist scholar Justin McDaniel on the topic of Buddhism amulets. Justin is a true scholar of religion, especially Asian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, but he developed a strong interest in Buddhist amulets after he visited Thailand for the first time when he was a young man.  Greg asks Justin what actually makes an amulet special, and Justin goes into a lengthy explanat...

Every Bangkok newbie has places that are near and dear to them, and which play a role in their early days of getting settled and finding your groove in Bangkok. Greg and Ed discuss some of these Bangkok institutions that meant a lot to them in their early days, but have since been torn down and paved over. Ed notes that Bangkok is famous for turnover in the restaurant and bar space, but certain pl...

Greg interviews Khun Weena from the Thailand Clean Air Network , a guest who previously appeared on Episode 66 of Season 4, when Thailand was in the middle of a crazy air pollution crisis. Since then K. Weena and her organization have been hard at work preparing reports for the government on the status of air quality in Thailand. In fact, her group has recently finished a 700 page green paper outl...