The Bangkok Podcast | Expat Life In Thailand Via Expats From Canada & America

First, we want voicemails from our listeners! Become a friend on LINE (scan the QR Code below) and send us your thoughts, greetings, or an awesome joke.  In a great show for economics nerds and anyone just interested in how the Thai economy is faring, Dr. Jessica Vechbanyongratana returns to discuss the Thai economy during the pandemic and what - if anything - we can do to help the recovery. Spoiler: not much  Beginning with anecdotes of how economists were already predicting a bad 2020 at the end of 2019, Greg and Jessica get into just how badly the economy is doing with stats on some of Thailand’s major sectors. On top of that, the Thai GDP is down 12% and meets the official definition of a recession. Unemployment numbers look a little better but are difficult to evaluate due to Thailand’s very large informal economy.  Next, Greg and Jessica get into the Thai government’s response to the worsening economy and the good and bad moves they have made, from efforts to reduce interest rates on loans to attempts t

After a brief intro explaining the podcast’s decision to accept advertising (within strict guidelines), Greg and Ed jump into a topic important to anyone travelling to Thailand: What are the most important Thai laws to know? Ed gives a quick lawyerly disclaimer: don’t rely on this podcast to make important decisions, but instead just use it as a guideline to do your own research and talk to a real lawyer. :) Next, Greg and Ed bring up ‘the enforcement problem’: as regular podcast listeners well know, many Thai laws are not frequently enforced or enforced haphazardly. On this show, however, we focus on laws that are usually or maybe even always enforced. In other words, knowing them has actual practical value during your stay in Thailand. In total, the guys go through ten categories of laws, ranging from the obvious but important, such as not criticizing the monarchy, to lesser known but equally valuable, such as the high fines for littering that have ruined many a visitor’s day, or what the increasing number

Greg interviews Jarrett Wrisley and Chalee Kader, well-known and successful restaurateurs in Bangkok. After quick bios, they begin by dispelling some myths about the restaurant business and explaining some of the harsh realities of competing in a big city such as Bangkok. Even during good times, it’s a tough business, but during the COVID era it is nearly impossible. Greg and the guys discuss strategies for surviving and how to bring customers back when things improve. There are also some great stories about genuine Wagyu beef cattle in Isaan (true story) and sourcing Nordic-bound rice from ex-communist farmers. Greg then asks about the changing tastes of Thai people, and the two experts discuss at length the nuances of the expanding Thai palette.  Last, the guys try their best to explain all the ‘ingredients’ that go into a successful restaurant experience, and although it would be great if it was always about the food, in fact many variables are at play. Our guests are two of the not-very-many business peop

Greg and Ed continue their ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ series with LUST - yep, we go there. Well, figuratively, anyway. On the record, the guys don’t actually recommend that you visit any of the red light districts in Bangkok - there are so many more interesting things to do in the city that aren’t as...potentially icky. But let’s be honest - they remain a huge draw, and if you live here long enough, you’ll eventually end up at one of them.  Topics include where to go, how to behave, what to do, what not to do, and in general, what to watch out for while still having a good time. Whether you are an actual fan of these ‘adult’ districts, just curious, or a long-term expat who might agree or disagree with our take, have a listen so you can avoid the ‘noob’ mistakes that Greg and Ed may have, hypothetically, made. (OK, we did.) As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send

Ed interviews Putsawan ‘Poy’ Tipsakorn, a friend and former student of his who did an exchange year in the U.S. while in high school. Ed and Poy begin with her background in a small town in Nakhorn Ratchasima province and her conservative all-girls school and how she got the idea to go to the States in the first place.  From there the story moves to upstate New York, where she met her host family and dove right in, making friends in marching band and choir. The academic transition was more difficult, and she had to quickly improve her English and adapt to American customs. Listen in for some classic funny ‘clash of cultures’ stories. Thankfully, Poy thrived in the US, but eventually had to head back home. Classic reverse-culture shock followed, as she had to work to fit back into her own culture. She and Ed discuss what happened upon her return, and her decision to study in an international program for university in Bangkok, which is where she learned even more details about her second home from Ajarn Ed. Fol

This week Greg interviews Khun Voranai Vanijaka, a well-known Thai journalist, social commentator, and founder and editor-in-chief of Thisrupt.co, an English language website and social media enterprise that focuses on social and political issues in Thailand. Khun Voranai explains his unique background as a Thai man who grew up in Austin, TX, and also that Thisrupt is currently self-funded by him, but that he is negotiating with investors. He and Greg next elucidate Thisrupt’s vision: politics, society, and economics are really all just aspects of culture, and Thisrupt’s goal is to focus on all facets of ‘Thainess.’ After Greg asks about the site’s edgy content, Voranai contends that it is a journalist’s duty to ‘push the envelope’ and not simply be PR for the government. He explains that a society cannot improve without first being able to speak and generate dialogue on a topic, and he insists that he will not be cowed in bringing up sensitive issues. They also discuss Thailand’s changing younger generation

After a very strange intro in which Greg extols the virtues of a mind-numbingly happy Finnish folk tune, we get into the main episode, which comes in two parts. First, Greg interviews his friend Yining, who is just finishing a two week quarantine after returning to Thailand from Singapore. She explains the quarantine process in Bangkok, her COVID test (which came back negative, as expected), her hotel accommodations arranged by the Thai government (but that she had to pay for), and how she’s amused herself over the nearly two weeks spent alone. In short, it was no party, but Yining has gotten through it OK. In the second half, Greg and Ed give advice to anyone in Yining’s situation (or actually anyone stuck at home during a lockdown), who is looking for recommendations for a book to read or a movie, documentary or series to watch. From Vikings to video games to the skinny on Buddhism, the guys’ recommendations are shockingly insightful and arguably life-changing to anyone who follows up on them. We may be bia

Greg and Ed interview Florian, an old friend of Greg’s and coincidentally the occupant of Greg’s old apartment in Chinatown with a beautiful view of the Chao Phraya River.   Florian is a man of many talents, but this interview focuses on his multi-year project to build a modern house in the jungles of Mae Hong Son province, in northwestern Thailand.    Many expats dream of building a house in Thailand, but Florian has actually done it, and not just any old house either. His house is essentially in the middle of the jungle, off of both the water and power grids. Solution: solar power! Florian explains the entire process from conception to research to designing the building, with many pitfalls and close calls along the way. Although considerable sweat and tears have gone into the project, you’ll be surprised at the relatively modest cost of such a unique house. If you really want to follow along at home, Florian even kept a blog of the entire process, with plenty of photos. And since you’re a patron, we’ll incl

In a new series cooked up by Greg’s evil brain, the guys explore Bangkok through the prism of the Seven Deadly Sins. Each of the seven shows (not in a row, thankfully) will see the guys pick one of the sins and discuss how it relates to their own experience in Bangkok.  Starting with the Sin of Pride, Greg and Ed each come up with a few things that make them proud to call Bangkok home. From history and architecture to musical talent and one very specific bit of food, Greg and Ed discuss the little things that they never forget to show off to Bangkok n00bs - things that make them say, “You’re goddamn right Bangkok rules, and this is why!” As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

This is Part 2 of Greg’s interview with Dan Fraser, an old friend, Thai TV star, and owner of adventure travel company Smiling Albino. Continuing their conversation, Dan talks about the challenges of transitioning from a business manager ‘control freak’ (his words) to a TV entertainer whose role is mostly to be the goofy foreigner having crazy experiences in Thailand. The key is finding his inner child and having faith in his producer to watch his back and make the kind of show that the producer wants. Although it might not always work out how he wants it to... From cultural mishaps to running to catch planes to eating a wild variety of food - from ‘orgasmically delicious’ (his words) to ‘vile and violent’ (also his words). An example of the latter would be lightly steamed ‘gooey swamp toads.’ Suffice it to say that someone picky about what they eat could never do Dan’s job on the show! Last, Greg asks Dan about any lessons he has learned about Thai culture being on the show, and, with a laugh, Dan points out

Greg interviews Renaissance-Expat Extraordinaire Dan Fraser, an old friend of both Greg and Ed and a former guest of the podcast in season 1. As both the star of a Thai TV show called ‘Long Ruk Yim’ and the owner of Smiling Albino, a high-end adventure travel company, Dan is afforded some really unique opportunities for understanding Thai culture, and seeing things from the inside. Among the topics discussed in this episode - part 1 of a two-part show - Dan discusses the difficulties involved in filming a television show where he must explain his adventures in Thailand, in Thai to a Thai audience, and the logistics of putting a weekly show together while running a mid-size company with a few dozen staff. He also goes into detail on some of the incredibly awkward situations that he often finds himself in while filming, and how he uses them as tools to better understand Thai culture. Suffice it to say, if Greg and Ed have had ‘interesting’ lives in Thailand, Dan has had something that’s hyper-super-mega interes

We return to our Thai history series with a fascinating look at the role that several Thai cannons played in some important historical events.  First, with the help of a cool blog on Thai history from our friend Ken Lohatepanont, Greg tells the story of some silver cannons gifted by King Narai of Siam to Louis XIV of France. It turns out that during the world-changing storming of the Bastille in 1789, those very same cannons were used by the revolutionaries to bring down the notorious prison. Who would have thought that Thai military equipment would play such a key role in world history? Next, Greg tells the story of two large cannons, known as Seri Negara and Seri Pattani, used by the southern Sultanate of Pattani. When Pattani eventually challenged Siam and lost, the Thai King seized the cannons as spoils of war. Alas, one ended up at the bottom of the sea, but the other is on display in front of the Thai Ministry of Defense to this day. Last, Greg relates the use of cannons by the famous Thai developer Nai

It’s an extra-long show this week as Greg interviews Jessica Vechbanyongratana, a professor at the faculty of Economics at Chulalongkorn University, about the numbers that make up Thailand’s economy.  Beginning with Thailand’s notable jump up the list of countries with the biggest inequality gap, Jessica explains the methodologies and data that led to the change - although as she mentions, depending on what data you look at during what year, Thailand may not necessarily be any more unequal than a country like the United States. Next, they tackle the question of the minimum wage and the average monthly income of residents of Bangkok vs other areas of Thailand, with Greg drawing an interesting analogy between that and Napoleon Dynamite (you see, Bangkok - like Napoleon Dynamite - tends to throw a bomb into many predictive models). The two also cover how teaching is considered a really good job in Thailand, how Jessica’s students are usually overly optimistic about the wages they’ll earn upon graduation, and fin

Inspired by a great post on a Thisrupt, the topic is counterfeit goods. Most people are aware that all types of counterfeit goods are available for sale in Thailand, whether it is watches, handbags, DVDs, or software.  Greg and Ed trade stories about how Thailand allowed them to embrace counterfeit culture in their early days of living in Thailand, simply because it was so cheap, so readily available, and ‘everybody was doing it.’ The boys talk over some reasons why pirated goods are more common in Asia, and Greg recounts visiting the Museum of Counterfeit Goods at a prominent Bangkok law firm. But as technology advanced, markets matured, and Greg and Ed got older, they both now see the value in (most) intellectual property, and happily pay more for the real deal. Thailand seems to be heading in the right direction at least.  As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so yo

Greg interviews Khun Natapanu Nopakun, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You’ve probably seen him on TV - he’s the guy who gives English language updates of what’s going on with the Thai government, and especially the coronavirus situation.  Khun Natapanu begins by explaining exactly what his job is - giving info on foreign affairs to both foreigners and Thais in English. Interestingly, his job is not just to interpret or translate the normal Thai public affairs information into English, but to select and in some cases add information that is more relevant to foreigners. In short, Khun Natapanu crafts Thai government news to better fit a foreign audience. Simply put, there’s stuff foreigners need to know that Thais don’t, and vice versa.  While we’ve long held the belief that expats in Thailand really SHOULD speak Thai, we really appreciate any English language info we can get, so it’s good news that Khun Natapanu explains that this is actually very much on the roadmap of the Thai g

When you are a kid, you are taught to look on the bright side of everything. In that spirit, Greg and Ed search for any possible positives in their lives as a result of the lockdown (which, generally speaking, SUCKS). Ed begins by noting that his relative lack of social life has given him more freedom to experiment with his diet, which consequently resulted in him losing 5 kilos. Greg notes that the increased time home has meant more bonding with his son and many priceless moments that otherwise might not have happened during more normal times. Next, Ed notes the rather mundane but still meaningful fact that while staying home, he simply spends less money. At the end of the month, there’s actually money left in his account! You can’t argue with that. Greg then brings up the convenience of finally being able to fix troublesome aspects of his condo, those little niggly things that bother you for years cause you are too busy to focus on them. Well, thanks to the lockdown, he can tamp down that annoying nail that

You know how foreigners aren’t allowed to be tour guides in Thailand? Well guess what - there’s an interesting little loophole to that, and it’s a great opportunity to get to know Thai culture in a very real way. Greg interviews Dr. Peter Hufschmid-Hirschbuehl (hereinafter referred to as ‘Dr. Peter’ for obvious reasons), the President of the National Museum Volunteers, the only museum that allows foreigners to train and work as tour guides. The training program provides a quite extensive background in Thai culture, and many go through the program just for the education. Once finished, graduates lead tours in English, German, Japanese and French.  Dr. Peter goes into detail on the National Museum, highlighting both its positives and negatives, and relates insights into its collection and what it says about the Thai culture, and the artistic and creative things that it’s produced over the millenia.  Dr. Peter then explains the training program, which involves quite a few hours of work, and has a nuanced focus d

Greg and Ed tackle the complex question of privacy in Thailand, especially as it compares to privacy back home. But there are lots of types of privacy, so what do we mean? Firstly, as an expat, you live in a kind of bubble of privacy anyway - often left alone and largely cut off from the Thai-language media, which only increases the sense of privacy. Second, Thai culture is famously indirect, with Thais tending to be less confrontational about a person’s private life, so from a social and cultural perspective, you might say there is more privacy here. BUT! But...Ed contends that, from a legal perspective, there is overall less privacy in Thailand. Does it balance out? Greg - a noted non-lawyer - agrees to some extent, but says that while Thais may be indirect, they also love to gossip (just ask his neighbors). All of this on top of the fact that the Thai gov’t can pretty much access whatever it wants and has used the pandemic to increase the stickiness of its fingers, means Greg thinks that we all need to be

The topic is a bit morbid but these are strange times - Greg interviews polyglot and podcast favorite Stu Jay Raj on the roots of the Thai language as they pertain to pain and medicine. They begin trading stories over the fiendishly tricky (for Westerners anyway) pronunciation of the Thai language, and the often hilarious (and obscene) mistakes that can happen, with Stu explaining that (roughly) Sanskrit and Pali are to Thai what Latin and Greek are to English. Stu explains most formal Thai words, especially scientific and academic ones, come from Sanskrit and Pali.  This segways into a discussion of how to interact with medical personnel in Thailand, and all the different Thai words for discussing pain and sickness. Stu emphasizes that Thai words can have double meanings, being positive in one context but negative in another, which turns into a discussion on the Thai words for excrement (really!), which are kind of important to get right, if you think about it. :) Last, Stu gets into the physical differences

Greg and Ed recorded a show that goes in-depth on Thailand’s alcohol ban and whether or not it makes sense as a way to combat the coronavirus. What they did NOT count on was the ban being lifted 3 days AFTER they recorded the show! No worry - it’s still a very relevant discussion.  First up, the boys try to give the ban the best spin possible - does it really help reduce irresponsible partying - social gatherings in large groups where people are not wearing masks or social distancing? Next they discuss a WHO report in Europe that supported alcohol bans on the grounds that alcohol causes multiple diseases that increase the lethality of the virus. Finally, the guys consider another side-effect of the ban - with many people stuck at home, women with abusive spouses may suffer increased attacks with alcohol easily available. The boys weigh each argument, accepting that each point must be true at least to some extent. But for each of them, multiple holes appear. Why can’t alcohol sales continue but no drinking in