AmericanThaiGuy Ron Weaver on the Complicated Issue of Racism in Thailand [S7.E12]

Greg (00:00:05) - On part two of two. We chat to Ron Weaver, aka American Thai Guy, to get his perspective on racism in Thailand.

Ed (00:00:12) - So if you've ever wanted some deeper insights into an issue that often baffles foreigners with how it's handled here, you'll learn a lot on this episode of the Bangkok Podcast.

Greg (00:00:36) - Sawasdee Krub. And welcome to the Bangkok Podcast. My name is Greg Jorgensen, a Canadian who grew up with fish tanks full of Siamese fighting fish, but despite having lived here since 2001, has never even once seen one in the wild. Where are they?

Ed (00:00:51) - That is a darn good question. I've never seen a Siamese fighting fish either.

Greg (00:00:55) - Yeah, I got a fight over there.

Ed (00:00:57) - And I made a canoe with an American who came to Thailand on a one year teaching contract 23 years ago, fell in love with Thai students who smile and say they have no questions, even when they have no idea what I'm saying. So I never left.

Greg (00:01:10) - It's a constant, a constant search for validation.

Ed (00:01:14) - It makes no, it just makes my job easier. I ask them, they smile and say, no, we're good. Uh. And then I can. I'm good, I'm fine. Even though I later find out. I later find out that they have no idea what I'm talking about.

Greg (00:01:26) - You should just change your question. Do you have any interest in discovering what I'm talking about? No, I don't want.

Ed (00:01:31) - To. I don't want to. I don't want to ask that question. No, it's A22 honesty. We want to give a big thanks to all of our patrons who support the show. Patrons get every episode a day early, behind the scenes photos of our interviews, a heads up to send questions to upcoming guests, and access to our discord server to chat with me, Greg, and other listeners around the world. But best of all, patrons also get an unscripted, uncensored bonus episode every week where we riff on current events and Bangkok topics. On this week's bonus show, we chatted about the Prime Minister's decision not to declare Chiang Mai a disaster zone due to being the most polluted city in the world, because it would hurt tourism, Thailand's ranking as the 58th happiest country in the world. And whether we think that ranking was too high or too low, and thoughts on the incredible level of development along Rama four road, which got us to wondering when, if ever, will Bangkok reach its mall saturation point to learn how to become a patron and get all this good stuff, plus access to over 700 bonus and regular BAC episodes, click the support button at the top of our website.

Greg (00:02:42) - That's right. And we also want to do a quick shout out for our friend Scott and Trevor over at the Talk Travel Asia podcast. Ed and I recently guested on an episode talking about some of the most memorable royal temples in Asia and why they're important. Always a fun conversation with those guys. So check that out over at Talk Travel Asia Calm and say hi to Scott and Trevor for us when you're there.

Ed (00:03:02) - That's right. I mean, those guys really bug the crap on it because they actually have knowledge and expertise on a topic.

Greg (00:03:08) - Yeah, we should start a their talk Travel Asia. We should start one called Couch Potato.

Ed (00:03:12) - Yeah.

Greg (00:03:13) - Asia or something like that.

Ed (00:03:14) - Yeah. Like those guys actually have expertise and have worked in the field that they're talking about. Whereas we're just shooting the shit.

Greg (00:03:22) - We're experts on Bangkok.

Ed (00:03:24) - But we we shoot from the hip here at the Bangkok Podcast.

Greg (00:03:27) - We shoot from the hip because we know Bangkok.

Ed (00:03:29) - That's right, that's right.

Greg (00:03:31) - All right. On part two of two, we are joined by someone we've both admired for a long time and have wanted to have on the show a young fellow by the name of Ron Weaver. Now, you might know Ron by the name he uses on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Threads simply American Thai Guy, where he produces short and very sticky little skits that usually focus on a single Thai word or phrase. Now, last week, our show focused on Ron's story and how he motivated himself to get really good at Thai. But on this show, we switched gears and get his insights into something that Thailand has sometimes had a difficult time dealing with, and that is racism. We've all seen the obtuse billboards or clueless commercials that would elicit gasps of horror in the West and wonder how they got approved. While a lot of Thais just wonder why we're so sensitive as an African American, Ron is obviously much better placed to discuss this, and we are. So we asked him to provide some valuable insights into this complicated issue. So here is our great discussion with our buddy Ron Weaver, the American Thai guy.

Ed (00:04:33) - Right?

Greg (00:04:34) - Well, speaking of that, let me let me do a bit of a zag of a segue here. And I wanted to get your insights into, into something that I think we all have some experience with in terms of observations and seeing how Thailand kind of trips itself up sometimes, and that's the way it deals with race and specifically black people, African Americans. I guess it depends who you're talking to, what phrase you use. Um, and, you know, in the past there's been some pretty embarrassing faux pas by Thailand, you know, making fun of dark skin or promoting the ideal that only white skinned people get treated good and things like this. So obviously Ed and I as two pasty foreigners, don't have any experience with this. So what is your observation about this? What is your experience been? Is Thailand racist? Is it just sort of clueless? What what's going on here? What can you tell us about this?

Ron (00:05:29) - I, I've had um, I haven't had any really negative or what you would call racist experiences in Thailand. And the reason why I say that is because. racism. Especially where I'm from. It's pervasive. It's based upon hate. and it's something where it can reach the point of actually, you know, violence and people losing their lives. So. If you're asking, is there the kind of racism, in Thailand like there is in America? Absolutely not. Unless you're talking about the foreigners who bring that with them. Right? Because that's the only that's the only kind of racism that I have actually experienced that type of racism from. Those are only people that I have actually experienced, the kind of racism that I've experienced in America from it, and that is from foreigners. Right? Because ever since I've been here, Thai people have never hated me because I'm black. They might have preferences for people with lighter skin, which is that's entirely up to them. But they do not mistreat me because I am black.

Ed (00:06:53) - This is this reminds me we've done a couple shows, about what it's like to be gay in Thailand. And we there's this perennial debate over because for some gay people, they consider Thailand a gay Paradise. And so we've, we've we've had different people on the show who've presented different perspectives on this. And one take is, well, gay people don't enjoy certain rights here. There's still discrimination in certain families. And so there's a bit of a pushback among some gay people and saying, hey, this is a misrepresentation. This is not a gay Paradise. But other gay people say, hey, wait a second. Like, no one punches me in the face here. So like, so whether they truly like me or don't accept me, I don't care. Like they leave me alone. They're polite to me. So this is a gay Paradise. I mean, do you feel. I mean, you're making this point that of course, it just, you know, the US is so big. It depends on where you are. But in certain places, in certain neighborhoods, it would be dangerous for a black guy to go there. Just like it would be dangerous for a white guy to go to certain neighborhoods in the US. But, but.

Ron (00:08:04) - So that's a different thing though. Okay, I agree that's a different thing though.

Ed (00:08:07) - Well, no, I'm drawing a parallel. I'm not drawing a parallel. I'm just saying that the US, we have a confrontation, we have a confrontational culture. We have a direct culture. Yes. And Thailand, Thailand has a very indirect, flexible culture. So do you feel like you're just taking advantage? Like the bottom line is whether they really like you or not? Are you saying it doesn't really matter because they're just they're not direct about it, like they're just polite? And is that kind of your take that that you I don't.

Ron (00:08:35) - Think I don't think that they're, they're you're I'm, I'm not saying that they hate me, but they're not direct about it. That's because that's not the case. They don't oh in their culture. Mostly because they have been raised with Buddhism. In that they feel that you're human, that that's all that matters and they don't. The only thing they care about is if you are, a good person, if you're a bad person, doesn't matter what color you are, they're not going to like you. Sure. You know what I'm saying? So that's that. That's the way they feel about it. And I've had my, assumptions where I thought something, you know, people were being racist, like, I, I had a video that I uploaded on, Facebook back in 2018 where I was asking Thai people. I spoke in Thai. So this went viral on, you know, on Thai, you know, Facebook where I was asking, why do you, you know, do Thai people like to say that black people are scary? Because I, I had heard that often, you know, just they don't know that I can understand Thai. And then they might say that where I can hear it. Oh wow. Right. And it took me a while to, to understand that there is a difference between, what they're saying and how I'm treated back in the US. Oh, for them, it's like, okay, this person is one, he's not Thai. Two, he's pretty massive. I'm not a small man. Right? One. Right. and he's just he's different. And that's something natural, for us as humans, the way we have even survived to this point is that we have tried to avoid or try to be suspicious of anything that is different. So when they say this, that's not they're not saying they hate me, because if I speak to them and I and I'm nice, they'll just oh, okay. You know, no big deal. But there are places that I go in the States, dude, I they will literally murder me just for being black.

Ed (00:10:37) - No, no, there's no doubt. No doubt about that. Right?

Ron (00:10:40) - I'm not going to experience that in this country. Never. And I think it's difficult for, for white people who have never really experienced true racism to understand the difference, because I hear I see a lot of complaints like on, you know, social media where they're like, oh, that's racist. Oh, that's racist, dude. That's capitalism. Some of the stuff you guys are complaining about, the things that you guys are talking about.

Ed (00:11:08) - Yeah, yeah, yeah, no.

Ron (00:11:09) - Doubt it's capitalism, you know what I mean? Oh, oh, they're targeting me because I'm white. No, they know that most white people that come here have money, they have the most money. That's just the fact of, you know, the world that we live in. So if they're going to target the people who have the money, who do you think they're going to be targeting me?

Ed (00:11:27) - Right, right.

Ron (00:11:29) - Well, they're not going to do that. You know what I mean?

Ed (00:11:31) - I want to clarify, like Greg and I, we've never claimed to be the victims of racism here, although we do, we do joke a little bit about very small things, but like, they're very small, you know, it's just, you know, it's when, um, one of my favorites, just because it's so I find it funny, um, was when I used to work in a big office tower, like, super tall office tower. And this only happened a couple times, but a couple times I'd be alone in the elevator, and the elevator door would open up, and there would be a meek kind of Thai office girl, and she would take a step towards the elevator and then see that only a white guy was in there. And then she would step. She would step back and like, not want to get in the elevator with me. And it's so it's such a I'm not I'm not complaining. I know this is nothing compared to what real racism is, but it's still it's weird. It's like it's so awkward and it's just so it's the tiniest. I've only had the tiniest little taste, you know?

Greg (00:12:30) - Yeah. I think it's very valuable for someone like me. A white guy who comes from a redneck little farm town in the middle of Alberta to face, and I use the.

Ed (00:12:40) - Word at least a little bit, a little bit, a.

Greg (00:12:42) - Little bit of discrimination. Like when someone doesn't want. I'm sitting next to the only empty seat on the BTS, and no one's sitting next to me, you know, or the elevator thing or something like that. Like, it's not racism. It's just not being treated like I'm, I'm I would be treated back home. And I think it's it's a valuable lesson to be like, oh, wow. So that's what it feels like a little bit to be treated purely on what you look like. It's not close to what real racism is. But you know what I'm getting at.

Ron (00:13:09) - Yeah, I agree with you. There are things that that we deal with that we that give us a new perspective. Yeah. On the lives that other people live. And, again, I understand that in Asia, not just Thailand, in Asia, there is a preference for people with lighter skin. And it's not necessarily that. It's just, you know, it's based upon race, because that includes whether no matter what kind of Asian you are, whether you're from China, Korea, whatever, they all have a preference for lighter skin and that. Is exacerbated by capitalism because then they want to make money off of this, right? So of course they start making whitening creams and stuff and things that, you know, and then comparing, making people feel like, hey, you should do something to be whiter, you know what I mean? And they're not even thinking about, oh, you need to hate being dark. They just are trying to take advantage of the fact that they have a preference for lighter skin, and they are trying to perpetuate that because that's how they make money. So it I don't I that's why I don't like to hear when people say that it's racism when a lot of that isn't. It isn't the same thing when as far as how they think about racism in the US, they, they, they hate you in the US, they, they don't want you to live. They want you to to end your life on this planet. And that is not what you deal with when you're dealing with Thai people. They just don't. They're not like that.

Ed (00:14:53) - They're not thinking that way for sure. They're not. No, they're not.

Ron (00:14:55) - Thinking that way at all.

Greg (00:14:57) - It's such an interesting take that I've never heard before about how actually, um, when it comes to dealing with people based on race, that Thailand might be the ideal or maybe more ideal than it's given the people often give it credit for. Because, like you said, it doesn't matter what color your skin is if you're a jerk, that's really what the Buddhists care about. You have to be a good person and everything else is secondary. So it's funny that you could say like, well, how Thais treat race, that's actually something to strive for. Because again, like I said before, it often gets a lot of shit for how they clumsily present these topics, you know, on advertising and things like that.

Ed (00:15:34) - That's a good segueway. I wanted to ask about this, Ron. Um, so we did a show on whether or not Thailand was a woke free zone because Thailand just seems to have just a void. It just seems to have avoided these cultural issues. And, you know, I teach at a university and I just thank God I'm teaching here and not in the States. And there's so many things I don't have to worry about teaching in Thailand, and I don't have to pick and choose every word super carefully. Um, do you, do you sometimes hear, um, okay, I'll tell this a little quick anecdote, just as an example of what I mean, this is years ago I was at a party with my wife. Super sweet, super cute Thai woman. Um, great big heart. Um, but has really good English and kind of kind of savvy about American culture. We were at a party, met an African American guy at the party, and my wife immediately started trying to talk in jive with him.

Greg (00:16:33) - Oh my God.

Ed (00:16:34) - And I and I didn't hear the story. I was, I was horrified. I'm like, oh, I'm like, sweetie, like, no, like, you can't do that. And I'm like, I go to apologize. I go to the apology guy. I'm like, I'm so sorry. And he stopped me. And I remember this guy. He just goes, oh, Thai people, you can't hate him. And it's true. Objectively, it was inappropriate. It's objectively inappropriate. You know, it would be like you meet a Chinese guy at the party, and you start speaking like ching chong ching like it's totally inappropriate, you know what I mean? But, well, Thai people are just so sweet, and, you know, there's no, like you said, there's no hate in their heart. And so, yes, it's just it's not PC, but it doesn't matter. And is that how you feel? Because I'm sure Thai people must sometimes say or do things to you that if someone did it in the States, it would, it would, it would rub you the wrong way, I'm sure. Does that happen?

Ron (00:17:31) - Well, I, I think that, I haven't again, I haven't really had much issue other than sometimes I'll get comments where people who are trolls and they try to use some word or some sort of insult to try to make me, you know, feel bad. That's based upon me being black. Mm. and I think that's just the nature of humans. You know, there are some people that are just going to be horrible people, and they're going to try to make you feel bad. They'll try to use something against you because that's, you know, that's the only weapon they may have. Sure. But as, as far as like issues of having to deal with, you know, PC culture. Thailand really doesn't have have that issue because again, that whole thing is, is from my perspective, is just a lot of different groups of people trying to be treated like a human being equally.

Ed (00:18:30) - Mm.

Ron (00:18:31) - You know, whether no matter what it is that you feel like you're, you're being mistreated or you're feeling like you need to, you know, find some way to, you know, argue in order to, to, to get to a point where you're not being, being made to feel bad or being, you know, slighted because that's all that's all about. But you don't have as much of that, outside of the rich and poor here. Mm mm. You know what I mean? As far as this is the issues about, you know, people choosing to be, you know, whether they're gay, whether they're transsexual, that nobody cares about that here. You want to you want to, you know, dress like a woman, do your thing as long as you're not bothering anybody else or causing anybody else any issues, especially if those those issues are imaginary. You know what I mean? No. Thai people just tend to be like, you know, you know, do your thing. Just don't you I don't know if you've if there's even a. If an English word for. Uh. Yeah. Tomohiko. Good lord. Have you heard this before? No, I.

Ed (00:19:34) - Don't think so.

Ron (00:19:35) - Okay. Basically, it's. It means just don't make someone else, have, you know, an issue or like, have some give other people problems or cause disturbance in other people's lives with whatever you're doing. If what you're doing doesn't disturb anybody else, why am I going to stop you from doing it? You never have those culture war issues here.

Greg (00:19:59) - Right. It's funny what you said about capitalism, too, because, you know, we've seen things go in, in the States where, like, someone doesn't want to bake a cake for someone because they're marrying someone they don't approve of. But here, like, you know, most people would be like, I don't give two shits what you're dressed like as long as you pay your bill at my restaurant. that's kind of what I'm concerned about, you know.

Ron (00:20:19) - I want to know what does woke mean? What does woke mean? What is what I mean? What is the what is the word that people are probably. What does that mean?

Ed (00:20:28) - Well, no, that's the perfect question because I don't know. And that's the first thing I say. I just gave this lecture two weeks ago, and I said, the problem with wokeness is everyone uses it differently. And, you know, I'm supposed to be teaching the concept. And I tell my students there is no settled definition of it. And this is we said this on the show ourselves, Greg, when we did our show on wokeness, we were like, the problem with talking about wokeness is I don't know what the heck people mean by it, you know? So no, no, you're right. Um, you're absolutely right. Um, but I also I was going to bring up, um, I told my students a story about how in my first two years I was here and me and my buddies were down near soy Tanya and on soy Tanya. There are some clubs there that say Japanese only. And I told my students, my Thai students here that we as Americans were offended that there were Japanese only clubs here. And so we insisted on entering. We were like, this is insulting. Oh, gracious. And my students just found the whole thing hilarious. They're like. They're like, Thai people don't care. Like Thai people don't care that there's Japanese only clubs. You know, because again, maybe it's kind of your point, like those clubs or those people or they're not reaching out and harming anyone. Yeah. They're just they're just doing their own thing. Japanese only clubs and Thai people. I, I've never heard of a Thai person complain about a Japanese only club. But for but for Americans. That's offensive. I'm offended by that.

Ron (00:21:54) - Well, here's the thing, because I remember seeing, I remember recall I think it was Dave Chappelle that was talking about how, especially in American culture, where, white people have taught, been taught that, you know, they're free to do anything. Everything is basically the world is theirs, and everything should go along, you know, with the way their world, their worldview. Whereas, when you come here, you kind of have to have a, a take the position of a, of an observer and, and try to understand why things are the way that they are. Because in places like patio, where some of the bars will only let you know, they won't even let Indians come in there. But this isn't because they don't like Indian people, it's because of Indian culture. Okay. The Indian culture, they they'll go, they'll go into a place and they'll have five people drink one beer. Mm. Okay. That that's okay for them. But they don't want that in that, that shop because they are trying to make money. And it is capitalism that is forcing them to say, hey, we don't want this culture in this bar. Interesting. So because we're trying to make money and it's not about hating them. So this is where you get that, where people are confusing capitalism with, like racism, right? You know what I mean? Okay, look, I'm only gonna be taking Chinese clients because these are the ones that are going to spend the most money wherever I take them. It's not. I'm not being. Yes, it's discrimination, but it's not based upon hate. It is based upon capitalism. Period. I want to make money. So you're going to focus on the people who are going to make you the most money. And I think a lot of issues these days, even when it comes to, jobs, some of the issues in the US economy that people tend to blame on, you know, discrimination or, you know, oppression or whatever. Dude, this is about money.

Ed (00:23:52) - That's it. Fascinating. Right, right, right. But I mean, if you're if you're if you're on the short end of that, then it still stings the same as if it was. Yeah. You know, of.

Ron (00:24:00) - Course, you know.

Ed (00:24:01) - It's like Greg and I have made jokes before about, um, you know, these English language schools that have, Filipinos or Burmese or maybe even African Americans whose English is perfect, better than ours. But these schools, they want a white guy or someone or someone with blue eyes to teach their kids. So these Thai parents see the white guy teaching them English. Like you said, that's capitalism, but it still sucks. It's still sucks if you're the Filipino making half the making half the money of some idiot white guy.

Ron (00:24:33) - Yeah, it's another thing is that I saw that as well. And I think. Again. Thai people have been over many decades have been taught that white is better. And it's just that's just what they have been taught. It doesn't. They haven't been taught. Black people are horrible and you need to hate them. Dark skinned people are horrible. Because another thing is that Thai people are brown. A lot of Thai people are dark skinned. I have met loads of Thai people who are darker than me for sure. So it's not that they hate dark skinned people or that they hate people, it's just simply that they have been raised in an environment where people with lighter skin have a preference or get advantages in society, but they have never built that society on the hate or oppression of people who do not look like that. You know what I mean? You just have an advantage when you when you're lighter skinned or you're good looking. It's the same as when we're good looking. If you're handsome, right? Right. If you're handsome, you haven't. You already haven't. If you're beautiful or handsome, you already have, an advantage over everybody else, every other, every average looking person. And we all know this.

Greg (00:25:54) - Have you seen the memes from, from Tinder and things like this where the woman opens with a question like, are you above six feet? And the guy responds like, it depends. Are you over 140 or whatever it is? And, you know, the woman loses her mind. But it's fine to ask a guy how tall he is because she won't date anyone under six feet tall, you know?

Ed (00:26:14) - Right.

Ron (00:26:14) - There is a. It is. We have to accept, the conditions of the world in which we live, and, we can there are some things that are meant to change or that should change because they are, abhorrent or things that are that harm people. And I think that inequality in a way tends to harm people, but not just inequality when it comes to racism, just especially, I think more than anything, economic inequality is what causes our most, you know, our most major problems, our largest issues. And if you're going to, you know, focus on, on on things or think about how to, you know, make the world better, I think that that might be the better thing to focus on because, I mean, you can't change your skin color. I mean, right, that's the only thing I gotta do. I gotta, I gotta, I gotta, die black. I gotta stay black and die. Those are the two things that I gotta do. I don't know where I heard that before, but that's the only two things I gotta do is I gotta stay black and I gotta die. That's it.

Ed (00:27:20) - Ron, I got a question about, um, just the community of African Americans here. We did a show. Previously on. What is it like to be a Western woman in Thailand? Because there's so many guys here who are into Thai women. Of course, Greg and I are guilty of this. And so there's a stereotype that white women just really struggle here. And I think our interview probably bore that out. Greg. Like when we, we had we had a panel of what, 4 or 5 Western women and there were a lot of horror stories. But the weird thing is there's a there's a lot of support groups. I mean, maybe support groups, not the right word. Um, just meetups or just like, I feel like white women, like they get together and they create this whole thing. Like, what's your scene like? Is there a scene of black people? Is there an African American thing? Like, what's it like?

Ron (00:28:13) - I'm gonna be I'm gonna be honest with you about, African Americans. We have been raised in our ancestors, have been raised in a culture where it was mostly divided. And that. And that is by design. and that has not changed that much. We occasionally we will have, some communities where we might, you know, make meetups and stuff like that, but mostly we tend to. Kind of stick to our own. You might do your own small friend group. You kind of stick to them. And which is somewhat different than like European people from Europe who like, create, build these communities in, in places like, the, the biggest tourist cities. And if you, if you go to Bangkok or Pattaya, there's a German area where there's businesses and stuff, where there's mostly German stuff, there's Swedish areas or whatever, there's Chinese Chinatown or something like that. But that's because African Americans have been disjointed. We were, we were, we were ripped from our roots, based because of slavery. And that never really got resolved. You know what I mean? Yeah. We there's some connection there where we say, hey, you know, we, we identify with one another, you know, culturally. But if you're asking, do we build a communities like other cultures? No. If you know, if you're talking about people from Africa, that's a whole nother thing. There are, you know, certain places where you might, you know, see, more African people in, in Bangkok. Yeah, some of them might build communities. I wouldn't know anything about that because they're not I'm not a part of their community, you know what I mean? But it's another thing is that, a lot of these places that build communities in other places are used to like making investments, building businesses and things of this nature where they and they have the ability to do that and less obstacles to make that happen because of the history of their ability to do this in different places where, you know, most, a lot of African countries may not have been able to do that. Right.

Ed (00:30:28) - Makes sense.

Ron (00:30:29) - So I don't, you know, again, like I said, we don't have like a community of people. We're, you know, we're friendly when we see each other. But there isn't like a, a big community of African American Americans that come, come here. But I have noticed that there are more, black people from the States who are, you know, learning about. Traveling internationally, and many of them are interested in coming here, especially after they hear from people like me and they're like, wow, this, you know, it's that good? Yeah, it's, you know, I don't have to worry about getting shot by police. So yeah, it's.

Ron (00:31:03) - Fucking amazing. Yeah. In comparison to living in comparison to living in the US, you know what I mean? Absolutely. It's great. They treat me great here. You know, if I learned, you know, the food is great. You know what I mean? The weather is great. So I think for anybody I don't care, you know, where you're from or what culture, what color your skin when you come here, if you are respectful and you are, you know, and you are a good person, you're good to other people, you're gonna have a really good time here.

Greg (00:31:31) - Here, here. I think that's a I think that's a really good note to end it on. Um, some awesome insights. Man. That was really, really helpful and interesting and educational as well. So, Ron, where, where can people find you online then if they want to watch your, your Instagram, your Facebook, threads, what's where do they find Ron Inc?

Ron (00:31:49) - I actually, publish on most of the major platforms. you can find my account under American Tigi. It's at American Thai Guy on TikTok threads, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook. and I think that's all of them. But if you look for American Thai guy, you'll find me. Right? And, I, I don't I have a lot of content that's already there, but I might be a little bit busy, so, you know, don't expect too, too, too many new videos over the next couple of months, but, I appreciate anyone who is interested in learning how to speak Thai. Coming and following and coming and commenting on what I'm doing. I appreciate all the support.

Ed (00:32:37) - Listeners.

Ed (00:32:37) - Um, listeners, you got to trust Greg and I, Ron stuff is definitely worth checking out. I'm telling you, man, there's really no one like you doing what you're doing. I mean, with, like, the comedy, the performance, the dressing up. it's just I've never seen anything like it. And then, like I said, like, your Thai is such a high level that I don't. I don't feel like my Thai is getting worse when I'm listening to you. This is my problem with a lot of foreigners. I don't, you know, I just I don't want to listen to foreigners speak Thai. Just feel like I can hear it's not right and I don't want to listen to it. But you're not like you're not like that. So it's a huge positive. It's awesome.

Ed (00:33:13) - Right on.

Ron (00:33:13) - I appreciate that, brother I appreciate it.

Greg (00:33:15) - Well Ron thanks again man. It was a great talking to you. We've taken up too much of your time. Um, let us know when you're in Bangkok next. Edna, I don't get up to Chiang Mai too often, but, if you're in town here, let us know. We'll we'll go and get it for sure. You can help us, with a couple of Thai questions.

Ed (00:33:29) - Yeah. I appreciate you inviting me to.

Ron (00:33:30) - Come on. I, matter of fact, this this is one of the first, podcasts I've done outside of my own. So, hopefully, I've made a pretty good impression. And, yeah, when I get down to Bangkok, I'll let you know. Maybe we can meet up and have a coffee now.

Ed (00:33:45) - Please, please.

Greg (00:33:46) - All right. Thanks, Ron.

Ed (00:33:47) - Okay, brother. Take care.

Ed (00:33:54) - I. Well, as I said last week, this was one of my favorite interviews I've ever done for the podcast. He's such a he's such an easy guy to talk to, but also interesting. So last week where we focused on Thai language, you know, you and I, you know, you and I love to talk about how bad we are at Thai and you know, it's hard to hate someone like Ron, you know, you know, he just got to give him credit for what he, what he did. and then, um, the stuff this week is just fascinating because, you know, you and I have our 20 years in Thailand, and we've we have experience. We've got some degree of wisdom, that we can give to expats. But not every expat experience is the same.

Greg (00:34:34) - Totally. Yeah.

Ed (00:34:35) - You're right, you know, and so we really should do more of this. Like we have to find more diverse expats. I know we you know, we did our show on expat women, which is actually to this day one of our most popular shows. And so maybe, maybe this is a lesson we need to learn is like, we really got to find different types of expats because their experience is not the same.

Greg (00:34:56) - That's right. And I thought his insights into that. I really, I really um, was found it interesting when he said, like, you know, racism is not like a one size fits all, you know, topic or word. You know, racism. And where he's from in America is much different than racism in Asia. Like you can't just provide it across the board, right?

Ed (00:35:15) - Yeah, yeah, I agree. I mean, his um, I actually since, since we did the interview. So there's a gap between now when our listeners are hearing it and when you and I did it, um, I talked to a couple other people, including an agent at my university, about, Ron's point. And I think it's fascinating the way he, you know, he kind of he, he, he accepted and admitted that, you know, in Thailand there is, a preference for lighter skin, you know, so he's just he's not some he's not someone blind to the way Thai people are. But at the same time, from his perspective, um, the, the harshness of Western racism is way worse than that. So even though he's saying, yeah, you know, Thai people like, prefer lighter skin, it's just the way Thai people administer that or the way the way it it plays out in his life is much less harmful to him. Or, you know, he, you know, as he said, like no one's trying to kill me, you know, that's right. That's right. You know, I mean, and so I just found that fascinating that that he, you know, he obviously he's made a life here. He's, you know, he's met a soul mate. Um, but I just find this, this type of stuff really fascinating. You know, it's, you know what? You and I had a, had a, had a fascinating discussion with, you know, for expat women and for you and I, we're just hearing what they talk about. And it's like their like their experience is very different from ours. We're like, what?

Greg (00:36:46) - I mean, are you serious? Oh my God. People actually do that.

Ed (00:36:48) - Like what country? We're like, what country are you talking about? They're like, you've been living in Thailand, right? You know, and so the good thing about Ron's case is that he likes it here, maybe even more than we do.

Greg (00:36:58) - Yeah. And, you know, it's like when I try to explain the Thai taxi experience of a single farang male compared to the taxi experience of, like, a Thai female, totally different. You know, they're not going to turn around and be like, you want to go, you like, you like lady or something like that. But, you know, conversely, they're also not going to put their hand back and try to rub it up my leg as they as as has happened to several female friends of mine as well. So fascinating discussion. Always really interesting to get very, very different viewpoints and try to learn as much about the world and about the culture that we're living in. So many thanks to Ron for coming on the show, and make sure to check out his social channels, because they're really, really educational and very fun to watch for sure.

Ed (00:37:35) - American Thai guy, check it out for sure. We got to get Ron down in Bangkok. we got to take him out. and next time we do a meet up, we don't know when that's going to happen, but, it'd be awesome if Ron could. Could make it.

Ed (00:37:47) - Totally, totally.

Greg (00:37:48) - All right, we ask our listeners to send us a voicemail using the little microphone button on the website if they have something to say. And this week we heard from JR, who was inspired by the story I told of my first date with my wife at State Tower, home of Sirocco and Lebua, and he had a similar story, though with a bit more tears. So let's hear what JR had to say.

JR (00:38:07) - Hey Greg and Greg. I also had my first date with my future Thai wife at Lebua. I booked a table and she cried when she saw the prices she wanted to leave. I finally convinced her it was okay. I paid more for a meal before she ordered one of the cheapest appetizers, but no main course. Love the views, the food. Not so much.

Ed (00:38:32) - Well, all I got to say is J.R. and I are on the same page. I had a similar experience there, although my date did not actually break out in tears. Um, I just found the cost didn't match the quality of the food, although the view is great. You know, we went we went through it, last week. Um, but, what's your take on it?

Greg (00:38:49) - No, I think well, thanks for sending that message, J.R. That's pretty funny. Um, it's funny because what I didn't say about my date there with my then girlfriend, now wife was that I was upfront about it. I was like, we can go here, but I'm. We're having one drink. And then I'm like, I'm not spending 400 bottle. Right. Great. And so we had a drink. Yeah. Right. Right. And then she was like, I want to have another one. And I was like, well, and she's like, I'll pay for it. And I said, okay. So we ended up having many more drinks there. And I'm sure she was not impressed with she got the credit card bill the next month and she was like, wow, that was not worth it. Although maybe it was because we ended up married.

Ed (00:39:22) - Just to be clear, though, you know, the view is fantastic. So we're not saying don't go. We're not saying don't go there. But man dinner's a tough a tough thing to justify I think. Yeah.

Greg (00:39:31) - No kidding. Oh I will say JR it's better that your date maybe cries at the beginning of the date than the end I don't know.

Ed (00:39:40) - That's pretty.

Greg (00:39:40) - Funny. Thanks for setting that in.

Ed (00:39:41) - Greg's used. Greg's used to, you know, girls crying at the end of the date.

Greg (00:39:44) - So that's just because they're sad to see me go.

Ed (00:39:47) - Ooh, that. Ooh. All right.

Ed (00:39:50) - On that note, I'll get to my outro. Thanks for a final thanks to all of our patrons who support the show. Patrons got a ton of cool perks and the warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that they're helping and are never ending. Quest for cool content? Find out more by clicking support on our website and connect with us online, where bank our podcasts on social media, bank Podcast.com on the web or simply bank our podcast at gmail.com. We love hearing from our listeners and always reply to our messages.

Greg (00:40:17) - Yeah baby! You can also listen to each episode on YouTube. Send us a voicemail like JR did through our website that will feature on the show. Hit me up on threads at BK. Greg. Thanks for listening everyone. Take it easy out there. Take care of yourselves and we'll see you back here next week.

Ed (00:40:30) - Absolutely.