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...

Greg interviews Dr. Soraj Hongladarom on the intersection of AI, ethics, and Buddhism. Dr. Soraj begins by discussing his background in the study of philosophy in the U.S., in particular early modern Western philosophy. After returning to Thailand, he transitioned to the study of the philosophy of technology and science, which today of course, means AI. Dr. Soraj explains that different cultures certainly have different approaches to some ethical issues, and he is currently interested in how...

If math can be used to solve everything from the orbits of galaxies to the swirl in a snail’s shell, then surely it can be applied to Bangkok to shed some light on the chaos? In a fun show, Greg presents certain semi-mathematical ‘equations’ to help us all understand Bangkok a bit better. While not scientific in the strictest, these rules of thumb may help you navigate the chaos of the Big Mango with a little more confidence.  First, the guys discuss all the variables that affect traffic...

This is Part 2 of our interview with Stuart MacDonald, Asian tourism expert and founder of TravelFish.org, arguably the best single resource for traveling in Southeast Asia. In this half of the interview, Greg, Ed and Stu revisit the tricky topic of ‘overtourism,’ an issue which attempts to find a balance between economic revenue from tourism, which in theory is good for local economies, and damage to the environment, which of course can in the long run make things worse for local people. Stu...

Greg and Ed interview their old friend Stuart of Travelfish, master of all things travel and tourism in Southeast Asia. Greg begins by reading a quote from an article on the weird duality of tourism: by sacralizing a location, tourism results in its ‘desecration by footprints.’ Stuart gives his take and undoubtedly agrees that this is generally true, hence his take on ‘environmental tourism,’ or tourism that is very conscious of its effect on the locations it promotes. He explains that the...

In a twist on our history episodes, Greg and Ed revisit the devastating tsunami of 2004. Greg begins with a thorough summary of the event, which begins with an absolutely massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra that caused a rift and shift on the ocean, creating immense waves that would affect multiple continents. Reverberations were felt as far away as the state of Oklahoma. The devastating results eventually took the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia.  Greg and...

This is Part 2 of Greg and Ed’s interview with Ron Weaver, otherwise known as ‘AmericanThaiGuy’ on social media. Ron begins Part 2 by directly addressing his experience as a black man in Thailand. He carefully explains his preference for living in Thailand over living in the U.S., explaining that although Thai people typically don’t prefer darker skin, their approach to the preference is indirect rather than confrontational. He argues that Buddhist culture truly tends to focus on whether a...

Greg and Ed interview Ron Weaver, aka ‘AmericanThaiGuy,’ on his life as an expat in Thailand as well as his excellent Thai language skills. Ron begins by waxing rhapsodically about his first visits to Thailand, when he fell in love with the weather, the food, the nice people, and shockingly, the women. Although he loved the country, communication was so frustrating that he vowed to learn the language. But unlike 95% of expats who make that vow, he actually did.  The guys trade language...

Greg and Ed discuss the Thai temperament and what exactly causes Thais to occasionally blow their collective lids. Greg uses the recent example of a Swiss expat who kicked a Thai woman in the back, allegedly because she was inappropriately sitting on the steps of his condo and blocking his path. Somewhat surprisingly, the incident went viral, much to the Swiss man’s detriment. The guys speculate as to what it was about THIS incident that caused it to blow up. Was it the fact that he used his...

Ed interviews his former student Mookie about her experience studying in the U.K. and her later choice to move her family back from the U.K. to Thailand. The two old friends begin reminiscing about Ed’s university program and how Mookie really was an unusual student. Most young Thai women tend to be very shy in class and rarely express their own opinions. But Mookie was different, showing up on the first day of class ready to debate! They quickly move on to Mookie’s decision to get a master’s...

Getting a bit nostalgic after listening to Tay-Tay’s latest album, Greg and Ed reminisce about their respective first year’s in Bangkok by recounting their most vivid early memories, something that’s unique for everyone but plays a big role in setting the tone for your time here.  Ed explains that he came here a little bit older than many expats, and relatively speaking, had his ‘shit together’ so to speak. No visa runs, no desperation at the end of the month to pay bills. But what he wasn’t...

This is Part 2 of Ed’s interview with friend and expat extraordinaire David Cluck. The guys pick up where they left off, discussing the holy grail: living in Thailand but making a Western salary. David explains how he began to get work in Thailand and for a while balanced a life in L.A. with one in Bangkok. He shares numerous anecdotes from his work on the Hua Hin Film Festival, which eventually led him to intersect with the cast and crew of “Only God Forgives” and a meeting with Ryan...

Ed interviews David Cluck, a Bangkok-based filmmaker, friend of the podcast and bona-fide “interesting expat”. The guys begin talking about their mutual love of Thailand, but then go back to the beginning to hear about David’s early life as a musician in Southern California and how he transitioned into working at a local TV station. That led to some work on commercials and short films and then slowly and surely into work on bigger budget film projects. David regales Ed with stories of...

We’re getting a bit personal on this episode as Ed talks about his marriage and eventual divorce in Thailand. Although it’s a difficult topic, enough time has elapsed that Ed is ready to discuss whether or not his experience provides any lessons for expats in the Land of Smiles (and sometimes frowns).  First, Greg asks Ed about the actual legal procedure of getting a divorce and whether it involved a lot of paperwork. In Ed’s case, the process was easy because it was by agreement; the only...

Ahh, Thailand. Beaches, sunsets, late-night parties, serene temples, and…space technology design and future satellite launch site?  Greg interviews Dr. Natthawat Hongkarnjanakul of the Thai Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, essentially Thailand’s version of NASA. Dr. Natthawat begins with his background studying aerospace engineering in Thailand and later in France on a scholarship. Next, he talks about GISTDA, and the Thai government’s interest in space research. Greg...

Greg and Ed discuss situations - whether they come from luck or strategy - that can seriously improve your quality of life in Bangkok. The guys try to avoid the super obvious things - getting a better job, meeting the person of your dreams - to focus on factors that are more advantageous than one might expect in Thailand.  Ed begins by emphasizing the importance of living close to where you work and having a short commute. While some might put this in the obvious category, the boys both...

Greg interviews well known Bangkok-based photographer Tim Russell about his book ‘Bangkok Station,’ which focuses (literally) on the iconic and now mostly defunct Hualamphong Train Station. Tim begins by explaining his early days twenty years ago as a traveller in Vietnam and how he picked up photography as a way to document his travels. Eventually he made his way to Thailand and managed to pass through Hualamphong in its heyday. The guys discuss Huamlamphong’s design by an Italian architect...

In a spirit of optimism and renewal, Greg and Ed discuss their New Year’s resolutions as expats. What are their goals for 2024 to grow as expats in Thailand? Greg begins by committing to read The Falcon of Siam, a famous novel set in 18th century Thailand, and to watch The Overture, a film about a famous classical musician in the Royal Palace. Ed wants to focus on improving his Thai, and he developed a plan to learn to read a collection of 9,000 Useful Thai Expressions, a popular PDF among...

Hey guys, I know we said we were done for the year, but we have one last little surprise for you. We sat down with two of our very good friends John and Poom to record a special bonus show for our patrons. But since it’s the season of giving and all that malarkey, we thought it might be fun to release the first 14 minutes of the show to our non-patron listeners too. Ain’t that special? Keep in mind our bonus shows are a bit more freewheeling and improv-based, and often have some spicier...

Just before the boys take off for the holiday, and hordes of new visitors arrive, Greg and Ed give advice on how to survive a long day exploring Bangkok, be you a tourist or just an expat trying to check off some boxes. The guys run through numerous items, some of which might seem obvious but which still can be easy to forget. Others have only been realized from some hard-earned wisdom as long-time expats in the City of Angels. For example, Greg extolls the virtues of noise-cancelling...

This is Part 2 of Greg’s interview with Ilya Smirnoff of Childline Thailand. Ilya begins with the ‘timeline of a child,’ which is basically a roadmap of the rights and responsibilities of children as they age. It begins at birth, when responsible parents should get both a birth certificate and house registration certificate for the newborn. At age 7, Thai children have the right to attend nursery school, and at age 12, young people become criminally responsible for at least some of their...

Greg interviews Ilya Smirnoff, the director of Childline Thailand, an NGO dedicated to the rights of children in Thailand. Ilya begins by explaining his early life as a monk, and how he eventually left the monkhood and began doing charity work. The basic genesis of Childline Thailand was to provide a single phone number for children to call to gain access to information about all the government services that are designed to help children in trouble. The organization was able to get the simple...

In a follow-up to previous episodes on expat ‘Merit Badges,’ Greg and Ed discuss ‘DEmerit Badges,’ mistakes that long term expats make that they should NOT make. In other words, if you’ve lived in Thailand for a while, and you act like a n00b, you deserve a demerit. Greg begins with the classic fashion faux-pas of all foreigners in Thailand for more than a few months: wearing elephant pants. As the official mark of being brand new to Thailand, these flimsy pajama bottoms are verboten for...

Greg interviews our old friend Phra Phandit, resident podcast expert on all things Buddhism and religion. This time the topic is ‘Neo-Buddhism’ or the way Buddhism has changed and adapted over time, in particular the way it has been appropriated in the modern era by Western culture and pop culture in general. Greg sets the stage with a quote about ‘modern’ Buddhism that has eliminated supernatural beliefs, ritual, and the monkhood, and instead focused on interior exploration and happiness in...