Bangkok in Your 20s vs Your 50s: We Discuss the Pros and Cons [S7.E29]

Greg (00:00:03) -  On this episode, we pro con Bangkok from the perspective of a 20 year old and then a 50 year old.

Ed (00:00:11) -  So if you've ever wondered what Bangkok looks like through the eyes of a 20 year old versus the eyes of a 50 year old, you'll dig this episode of the Bangkok Podcast.

Greg (00:00:36) -  Sawat dee trap, and welcome to the Bangkok Podcast. My name is Greg Jorgensen, a Canadian who came to Thailand in 2001 and expected to get a 30 day visa. But the guy messed up and instead gave me a 30 year visa. So in seven years, I guess I'm out of here.

Ed (00:00:51) -  And I met Knuth, an American who came to Thailand on a one year teaching contract 23 years ago, fell in love with telling everyone, I'm only going to spend one more year in Thailand every year, so I've never left one more.

Greg (00:01:05) -  Next year will be the year.

Ed (00:01:07) -  That's right. I probably did that for 10 or 12 years.

Ed (00:01:12) -  I really thought I was going to leave. All right. 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 a guy in India who was so afraid of his wife finding out he traveled to Thailand that he was arrested for tampering with his passport. The new visa rules, which led a whole whack of people from different countries, enter visa free for 60 days. The controversy over Thailand's very plain Olympic uniforms and some news from the dark side regarding the six people who were found dead in a five star hotel in downtown Bangkok. To learn how to become a patron and get all this good stuff, plus full access to over 700 bonus and regular back episodes, click the support button at the top of our website.

Greg (00:02:24) -  That's right. And as always, if you have a comment or show idea or just want to say hi. Head to Bangkok podcast.com and click the little microphone button on the bottom right to leave us a voicemail. Then we'll play on the show, and we also want to give a quick shout out to our buddy Scott and Trevor from the Talk Travel Asia podcast, which just aired their final episode. Believe it or not. Damn. Yeah, the guys are packing it in after 200 episodes, which is pretty awesome considering that I actually look this up. And the stats. The stats say there are about 4.3 million podcasts out there, and only 720,000 of them have more than ten episodes.

Ed (00:02:57) -  Wow. So the numbers that have more than 100 is going to be quite low.

Greg (00:03:01) -  Probably quite small. Yeah. So getting to 200 ain't it. Ain't nothing. So congratulations to those guys. And for sure for sure 200 great episodes. So if you want to listen to those head to talk travel Asia. Com.

Greg (00:03:15) -  All right. On this episode we are going to take a cold hard look at ourselves, or at least as much as we can remember from back in the day. So we think it's pretty fair to say that Bangkok has something for everyone of every age. But that doesn't mean that the city is seen the same by everyone at every age. With years come experience and that colors how you see and experience the world. So we got to thinking, what are the pros and cons of Bangkok for different age groups? As we said, the city's got something for everyone, but there are certainly parts of it that are definitely not for everyone. So us being in the enviable, some would say, unenviable position of having experienced Bangkok both in our 20s and our 50s. Sai we thought it would be an interesting thought experiment. Before we get into it though, I would like to say that I am not yet 50. I'm still 49, so I'm doing a little bit of out-of-the-box thinking for this, but.

Ed (00:04:08) -  I'll represent the the 50 ish people.

Greg (00:04:11) -  All right. I'll round down to 20. So let's see. Well, what do you think it is. Do you think. Do you think my my assessment of Bangkok is accurate?

Ed (00:04:20) -  This, I like this topic. And it popped into my head recently because I was hanging out with some 20 somethings who were relatively new to Thailand, although they visited here before, but their relative newbies and just chatting with them about what they were planning on doing on their trip. It made me realize that they're just looking at the city with different eyes than I do. And it's not. It's not just because I've been here a long time, it's just because of my age. Like the stuff that the stuff that is widening their eyes. It's not widening my eyes, you know what I mean?

Greg (00:04:54) -  And it's interesting to differentiate too, because anyone who comes here for the first time is going to have the same sort of eye widening experiences. But there's also the age that.

Ed (00:05:04) -  Yeah, that's what I want to talk about.

Ed (00:05:05) -  Yeah. You know, just what what does Bangkok offer people in their 50s versus what Bangkok offers people in their 20s? I like that topic. Yeah.

Greg (00:05:16) -  So what Ed and I have done is we've come up with a pro and con, three pros and three cons for each age group, say the 20s and the 50s, and we're just going to go through them and discuss and and see what we think. See what we get to. So how do you want. How do you want to do this? You want me to go first with my, with my pro and con? Yeah.

Ed (00:05:34) -  Why don't we do, why don't we do older people first? and you can lead the way, but I'll throw in my $0.02, and then we'll do. We'll do, younger people.

Greg (00:05:43) -  So for the pro column in the 50 year olds, the first thing I put there was, social clubs. And in my experience as a member of the Sam society and having various friends who have who have joined, museum tour groups and cultural exploration groups and trips and things like that.

Greg (00:06:04) -  When you're older, you have a bit more spare time, free time, disposable income. I think Bangkok is a really good city for for you to meet like minded people for dinner outings or cultural outings or museum visits, or to volunteer your time in these sort of places that are both a social outing as well as sort of a cultural learning outing as well?

Ed (00:06:27) -  Interesting. I think it's certainly true when it comes to food. So I, you know, obviously, you know, dining with friends is a is a social thing. And we all know Bangkok has great food options, international food options. And of course, some of them might be a little bit expensive for for kids, but not for 50 not for 50 somethings.

Greg (00:06:48) -  So exactly.

Ed (00:06:50) -  So I think I agree with this one. I think I agree like there are I don't know I don't know if the right word is sophisticated, but but there's I would say somewhat more sophisticated social options for people in their 50s that are cultural related or food related.

Ed (00:07:03) -  Yeah, I think I'd agree with that. Yeah.

Greg (00:07:05) -  It's pretty easy to find like minded folks to get out there and explore a bit.

Ed (00:07:09) -  Yeah, sure, sure. What else you got.

Greg (00:07:11) -  For the next one? For the next pro for the 50s, I've got simply pampering. I don't know about you, but when I was here in my 20s, I didn't really give two craps about getting massages or facial treatments or spa treatments or anything like that. Oh, yeah.

Ed (00:07:24) -  Yeah, right.

Greg (00:07:25) -  But but in your 50s, you want to you want to slow down and get some of that old.

Ed (00:07:30) -  I like this, yeah. I think that, Yeah. No. For sure. I think Thailand is like a TLC capital of the world. You know, it's like there's every every just. I turned on a soi. There's, like, a sauna or a spa or a a wellness center, like cosmetology, like facial this, like, I don't I don't know how the industry supports it, but there's tons of beauty clinics, massage places.

Ed (00:07:56) -  and if you've ever seen, like, if you ever go to a five star hotel and you see the, the menu at the, at the spa, it's pretty crazy, you know, like like like avocado cream treatment and and scent of, like abalone. Like who knows what again? Like it's it's just crazy. There's just a crazy variety of of ways to be spoiled. This is a good city to to be spoiled in.

Greg (00:08:22) -  Yeah. And then not saying that 20 year olds don't like to do that sometimes, but I think when you're a bit older, I think that becomes a bit more of a priority for you and Bangkok's. Also, the options have really expanded to now that there's like there's like Japanese style on sands. There's that's right. There's there's sensory deprivation tanks and things like this. So yeah, I think.

Ed (00:08:40) -  I think what like wellness and pampering and being spoiled and having someone, you know, take care of you, like whether it's massage or getting your nails done. I think Bangkok is great for that kind of stuff.

Ed (00:08:53) -  Yeah.

Greg (00:08:53) -  When you're 50 years old with no job, what else are you going to do? Boom. And the last pro that I mentioned here, I put, I put blue collar to dinner jacket. And what that means is that it's pretty easy. This isn't. You know, this isn't anything new. It's not going to blow your hair back. But it's pretty a pretty good destination to come if you want to give yourself a lifestyle boost. So if you're like a nurse or, you know, just a blue collar, a.

Ed (00:09:23) -  Normal middle class. Yeah. I mean, in North, it's not really blue collar, but, like, I think I think the idea is like, if you're just a regular middle class person with just a reasonable amount of money, but you want to pretend you're rich, I think Bangkok is a good. I think Bangkok is a good place to do it. I mean, I mean, it might overlap a little bit with what we said about pampering, but I just mean, like, you could stay in a better hotel room.

Ed (00:09:46) -  You could probably live in a better apartment. You could probably eat better food. You know what I mean, right?

Greg (00:09:51) -  You could jump up in the socioeconomic strata, one level. That's right.

Ed (00:09:55) -  And that's why obviously, it's one of the reasons why so many retirees come here. Your money just goes further, and you can live like a higher class life if you want to. Right?

Greg (00:10:04) -  Right. Yeah. That's it. And that's the angle. Like it's easy to say we can come here and your money goes further, but what do you get out of that? Right. it's not all about just saving money on your grocery bill. It's about living a better life than you could back home.

Ed (00:10:18) -  Yeah, agreed, I think. I think this is definitely positive. Okay, so what's, what's since we're going to stick with the with the 50 somethings. What are some negatives for older people in Bangkok? Like what is. What problems might Bangkok have that some other cities, like New York or like Tokyo might not have? Right.

Greg (00:10:35) -  Well, the first one I put is I mean, for the pro I put social clubs. So getting out there and finding like minded people to explore. But you know that's great. But if if you're looking for high culture that is big Broadway shows or big concerts or orchestras or like, you know, or.

Ed (00:10:54) -  Or like world class museums, I mean, we've talked about there are some museums here, I think, I think they've gotten better and I should go to more, but I'm not sure. I don't think they're I'm not sure they're world class, you know.

Greg (00:11:05) -  Right, right, right. Just like the endless options for cultural or like, high cultural experiences, I don't I don't think you're going to find that in Bangkok. So you might you might do what they have here and then find you're like, oh, that's it. Well, I'm tapped out and that's all.

Ed (00:11:19) -  Yeah. And I think, I think for, to be honest, for a guy like me, the amount of high culture here is great because there is there is classical music and I could find it if I wanted to.

Ed (00:11:29) -  And there, you know, and there are, there are obviously some stage shows, but I mean, but Bangkok just cannot compete with New York. L.A. Chicago. Berlin. Paris. London. Right. Right, right. Tokyo. Yeah. So for high culture, I think not a great place to be.

Greg (00:11:47) -  It depends on how you define high culture too. For me, high culture is going to Imax, so.

Ed (00:11:52) -  I'm about at the same level.

Greg (00:11:53) -  So let me remind you, I'm still in my 40s, so things might change when I'm 50. the next one's is is is is, might not be obvious actually to the younger the youngins, but it's just the sidewalks and getting around. So people with reduced mobility would probably have a pretty shitty time in Bangkok. It's not.

Ed (00:12:14) -  Or yeah, I think older people would just have less tolerance for, for, narrow streets like ankle breaking steps. obviously traffic jams. It's not a, it's not a great city for getting around. It's not walkable.

Ed (00:12:30) -  There's not I mean, there's maybe a few neighborhoods that are walkable, but in general, it's just a it's a pain to get from point A to B and probably older people are less willing to like hop on a motorbike. Yeah, I think I think transportation issues would hurt you more as an older person. When you're in your 20s, you don't care. You're just like like you like you said, like your commute when you first got here was insane.

Greg (00:12:53) -  And I didn't care.

Ed (00:12:54) -  Yeah, you just did it for you. Did it for years, you know?

Greg (00:12:57) -  But, you know, I came I came downstairs at the, stop on tax and, recently. And there's no elevators in that station at all. The only way to get up, up to the to the train level is the stairs. And I noticed that. And there was there was a woman in a wheelchair at the bottom. And the only option is for either someone to carry her or for her to, like, slowly hobble up the stairs while someone carries a wheelchair.

Greg (00:13:19) -  That's just brutal shit. Urban design for sure.

Ed (00:13:22) -  No doubt about it. No doubt about it.

Greg (00:13:23) -  Yeah, and the last con I have for someone in their 50s would be just the overall chaos and noise. And even for some, a young man like me who's in their 40s when I have my neat noise cancelling headphones in and I'm walking down the street, you. It's easy to forget how bloody noisy the city is. And I think, I think someone in their 50s who's looking for to to slow down and enjoy themselves a little bit. Their tolerance for that would be pretty low and I think it would get get on your nerves really quickly and really heavily.

Ed (00:13:53) -  Bangkok is not a peaceful city. It is. It's chaotic and messy and that does have a charm. But I, I think you're right. I think I think the charm is mostly for younger people, and I'm not sure older people would just find the general disorganization and and loudness. I'm not sure that they would appreciate it. You know, I feel like a place like Singapore or maybe Japan outside of Tokyo.

Ed (00:14:19) -  It's probably more suited for mature audiences, you know what I mean?

Greg (00:14:24) -  Yeah. And that's why a lot of people move out of Bangkok or out into the suburbs or something like that. But then you're looking at a reduced your reduced options for the kind of Western comforts that you probably want in your 50s. So. Right. So yeah, those are those are the three pros and cons I came. Yeah.

Ed (00:14:38) -  Okay. Now if you're in your 20s, if you're young, I think there's some pretty obvious pros for Bangkok. You and I both fell in love with this place in our 20s. so the first thing is, kind of the flip side of of the what we said about older people being able to to jump a social class. I think for young people, it's just value for the money and the fact that you can live very cheaply. So it's in a way you're you're living a low so existence, you're eating street food, you're at the absolute bottom of the rung. But when you're 20s you don't care.

Ed (00:15:12) -  And you can do it for very cheaply. So like if you just want to survive or get by and actually the food's pretty good and you're still going to have, you know, hot water and air conditioning, this has got to be a plus. Like, you know, we've mentioned it many times before, but I think a lot of big cities, it's just very difficult to live cheaply. But here you can do it right.

Greg (00:15:36) -  And in your 20s you're not so much concerned about which socioeconomic strata you're in. That's just how oh, wow, I got through the day and I only spent 200 baht. That's awesome. Right? That's right. Yeah.

Ed (00:15:48) -  If. Yeah, I mean, I don't even have that much money now, but in my 20s, I just had no money, you know. Right, right. You know. So okay, that's number one. The second thing is, I think that the adventurous angle of Bangkok and kind of the chaos and how you never know really what's going to happen, I think that is suitable to people in their 20s.

Ed (00:16:11) -  And again, this is the flip side of the of the of the chaos that I think older people don't want. Like the bottom line is if you want kind of stability, then Bangkok is not for you. Like it's just when I think older people more likely want stability, whereas the fact that like, it just feels like an adventure. I remember when I was younger, going out in Bangkok, there was just always going to be crazy. Shit was happening. Like, whatever it is, it's like, oh, this street is closed, or that thing is flooded or this new bar opened up, or it's just it isn't.

Greg (00:16:46) -  Or there's another coup where the airport is shut down or something like that.

Ed (00:16:48) -  That's right. Like it it the bottom line is because it's messy, it's also more adventurous. Yeah. Like right.

Greg (00:16:56) -  Like. And when you're young, you're, you're you're your tolerance for that is way high.

Ed (00:17:00) -  You know, you want it. You like it. You know, my, you know, my, when I, since I, since I'm in my 50s and I teach late teens and early 20s, I make a lot of, like, old, old people jokes and but there's some there's some truth in these jokes.

Ed (00:17:14) -  Like what I tell my students is, when I was young, I really wanted something to happen. But I know I'm old. I'm really. I know I'm old now because I just don't want anything to happen, like, I why would I want anything to happen?

Greg (00:17:27) -  I just that's really it. That's really funny.

Ed (00:17:29) -  I just want to. I just want to continue being me. And I just want to go along this path. I don't want anything to happen, like, good or bad. You know.

Greg (00:17:36) -  I can see, like a little a young ad walking on a beach and finds a lamp and rubs it and is like, please let something exciting happen to me. And like, that's right here in Bangkok.

Ed (00:17:44) -  That's right. But now I'm like, I don't want any. Now I know I'm like, I don't want anything to happen.

Greg (00:17:48) -  I want stability, man.

Ed (00:17:49) -  Yeah. That's right. so that's number two. and then I think the third big pro and, and you took advantage of this more than I did.

Ed (00:17:57) -  And we have a lot of friends. Bangkok is just a great way to internationalize yourself. I think obviously in in Bangkok, you can meet people from around the world, but then it's also a crazy hub for travel. So obviously, you know, a lot of our listeners are into this aspect of Bangkok. But it's not just that Bangkok is great. This is a great place to explore a huge chunk of Asia from, you know, you know, and you you and I have both done it, but you a little bit more than I'd have. But I think that's another pro in your 20s. Now, I know, I know older people travel as well, but by the time you're in your 50s, I think you're doing less of the oh, I want to check out KL. I mean, maybe I'm wrong. Like maybe like again, I think, I think older people either probably would have already done that or you know, maybe they just don't want to like, burn their holidays.

Ed (00:18:49) -  They want to take it easy. What do you think?

Greg (00:18:51) -  Yeah, I agree totally. And I got to be honest with you here. for me, it was also a little bit about bragging. Bragging rights, like where I come from. And like, I've still got friends in Canada who have never been out of Canada, who have barely been out of our province.

Ed (00:19:05) -  So you get some, so you get some, like global street cred living in.

Greg (00:19:09) -  Exactly. And but that's a that's a big thing in Canada. And I guess in the United States too. Like it's not easy to go to another country. It's a pretty big ask because the places are so damn huge. That's right. Right. So when you come to it like so like I say, I have no I know friends who have been to zero countries or 1 or 2 other countries. But when you come to Asia as a young person, it's really easy to be like, oh yeah, I've been to here and here and here and here.

Ed (00:19:33) -  Yeah. No, I mean, like from Bangkok, it's very easy to go to obviously Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, I mean, Burma is not that hard if you want to go that direction. But then of course you can make the jump easily to Vietnam. Everyone goes to Vietnam, everyone. And then it's, you know, a lot of people go down to Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong. You're just it's just a great jumping off point.

Greg (00:19:55) -  Yeah it is. And I you use the word right. It's street cred. And when you're young, I think that thing, that stuff matters more. Yeah. When you're when you're older, almost everyone's traveled a little bit.

Ed (00:20:06) -  Yeah. If you haven't done it, you you probably won't do it. I'm curious. Maybe maybe some people get the travel bug if maybe if they never had the chance though. Some people if didn't, you know, they might be and they have more expendable money. It's a good it's a good question.

Ed (00:20:19) -  I'm not sure. But I feel that like the I don't know, I feel you're more likely to have slowed down than than when it comes to traveling. All right. I want to make clear that I don't think Bangkok is the best city in the world for young people. I think there's some. I think there's some clear cons, for young people. The first thing is, I think a lot of people think Bangkok is like a party capital. And you can definitely have fun here. There's no doubt about it. But it's actually not a real club city, by the way, like Europeans would talk about it. Like, I remember back in the day when they tried to open it like Ministry of Sound here. And they tried they tried to generate like a true late night dance scene and it failed. And again, it's not my scene at all, but I know I've seen a million like vice documentaries on like, the Berlin like, like dance club scene and the European dance club scene. And I think that's even a thing in, Tokyo and Seoul and Hong Kong.

Ed (00:21:16) -  and I'm not saying that you can't go dancing in Bangkok, but the bottom line is there is a closing time here of midnight. And even though there are some underground like places around, it's really this is not actually a late night party city. And again, I know people are going to, you know, point out that there's some underground places, but not everyone wants to do that. Like some people just want to like dance at a proper bar until 3 or 4 a.m. and you can't do that in Bangkok.

Greg (00:21:42) -  You know, it's funny, this this reminds me of a story from a long time ago. And and like you said, the big partying and late night dancing has never really been my scene. And so when Ministry of Sound did open here and I went, I thought it was pretty mind blowing. I'd never seen anything like it. Sure, sure. And I remember I was I was working, I was working at this job, and I wrote something about Bangkok, and I and I included the sentence.

Greg (00:22:03) -  And Bangkok also has some of the best clubs in the world. And two of my colleagues read that, and they're they're European. And when they read it, they both looked at me and they're like, what the hell are you talking about? Bangkok is lame compared to these other cities.

Ed (00:22:17) -  Yeah, for sure. It's not. It's not a club city. And it's not in general, a late night city, even though of course you can, you can bend, bend the rules. So that's that's the first problem. Yeah. The second problem is a little bit different. A lot of people in their 20s are trying to build their careers and make money and, and get experience that's, really might be valuable. And of course, you can do it here, but, you know, you and I, I've said it a million times, Bangkok is just not a great place to make money. It's not, I mean, you and I survived, you know, you and I managed to do it, and, you know, we're doing okay.

Ed (00:22:50) -  But if you're if you're, like, a young go getter, you know, if you're like a 24 year old person with a lot of energy and you want to have a great career at almost anything, I'm not sure this is the place to be. I mean, just you're going to make less money. and of course, there's some international companies there, and I suppose you can always possibly get some high quality experience, but I don't know, man, I got it. And this is a big generalization. I don't think Bangkok's a great place for a career.

Greg (00:23:21) -  Yeah, I think you're overall you're right. I think it's very easy to come to Bangkok and sort of have five years go by in the blink of an eye. It's very easy to settle into a very comfortable right.

Ed (00:23:32) -  And get a job. I mean, like, you can get a job, like you can get a job and you can survive. But I'm not sure I'm not sure you're going to put something on your resume that is going to blow away some high level company.

Ed (00:23:43) -  I'm not sure.

Greg (00:23:44) -  Right. And when and when you're 50, it doesn't really matter so much. But when you're in, you know, 22 or 24, those five years carry a lot more weight in terms of building career cred, I think.

Ed (00:23:54) -  I think if you're the kind of person in your 20s who really just wants to have an adventure, but you're not building a career, then that, then, you know, look at my pros. So it depends on what you do in your 20s. If you're trying to have an adventure, it's a pro. But if you're like, hey, I want to build a career and make money, I would say go. I'd say, go to the States, you know, go somewhere else. Go somewhere else for that. Yeah, that's.

Greg (00:24:17) -  A good one. That's a good.

Ed (00:24:17) -  One. And the third thing, and I think some people are going to criticize this, but but you're wrong and I'm right. I don't think Bangkok is a great place to date and find a long term partner.

Ed (00:24:32) -  I think, I think, I think it's a great place to meet people and have fun, but I think the dating scene here is quite superficial.

Greg (00:24:42) -  Yeah. Hard. Agree on that one. And I've, I've, I've, I've put it this way before. I've said that it's really, really easy to find a partner in Bangkok. It's not so easy to find a soulmate in Bangkok. Right?

Ed (00:24:53) -  I mean, in terms of what you mean by partner, but it's I would say it's very easy to like, find people to quote unquote date. But I think, I think, you know, we've talked before about it's quite hard on Western women. And I think for Western guys, a lot of it is like, be careful what you wish for, like so totally. No, no. Because no, you're going to probably find a cute like nice Thai girl. But I'm not sure. It's easy to find someone you can really connect with, like you said, in terms of a soulmate.

Ed (00:25:23) -  Right. So I think you I think, I think a lot of Western guys come here and they think it's heaven and, you know, they have some fun for a few months, but then they it's hard for them to like, like forge, like a deeper kind of relationship. I know that's like. And it's a massive generalization and there's like, exceptions, but I just don't think, you know, in a way this is a little bit like, the career fun versus career thing. Like if you just want to come and have fun and you don't want to be in a serious relationship, then come to Bangkok. So if you if you if you want to, if you want to play the field and see a couple different people at the same time, or date someone for a month and someone else for a month. Like, if that's where you're at, then I think Bangkok is a good place to be, but not if you're some people. A lot of people in their 20s are ready not not to settle down, but they're ready to find someone special.

Greg (00:26:13) -  Right. Yeah. And I can speak for for my experience. And I know a lot of people in the same boat, but, you know, once you come here and the the physical stuff cools off, there's only so much small talk you can have And you know, after that. This is true.

Ed (00:26:28) -  That's right.

Greg (00:26:29) -  That's right. So? So unless you find someone who's like, really on the same level as you and on the same wavelength, and it can take a long time to find someone like that here. You know, I didn't meet my wife until, God, ten years into my ten years. Wow. Experience. Yeah.

Ed (00:26:45) -  Oh. That's crazy. Yeah. anyway, I mean, I think your original point you made is valid, that you can probably find something in Bangkok no matter what your age is. But I just think that people in their 50s like, what? What blows their mind about Thailand is going to be totally different than than people in their 20s. Right?

Greg (00:27:04) -  Right.

Greg (00:27:04) -  And again, it's generalizations. I'm sure there's people in their 50s who are looking for that crazy chaotic adventure, and there are people in their 20s who are here who have settled down quite nicely and good on you. But, you know, overall, I think we we nailed it with these ones. So there's, there's certainly like I said, there's there's something for everyone. But that doesn't mean it is going to have exactly what everyone's looking for for sure.

Ed (00:27:25) -  And I agree, I think we did nail it.

Greg (00:27:27) -  We nailed it. Good for us. All right. Let's check in with our new segment called Idiom Proof, where we try to learn a bit more about Thai culture by investigating one of the many funny and creative Thai idioms that we've come across. To help us with the correct pronunciation. We've asked our friend Bank to read it for us first and then we'll discuss. Take it away bank.

[THAI]

Ed (00:27:49) -  I know what nak len means. And wow, is that from from chalk.

Ed (00:27:53) -  Wow.

Greg (00:27:54) -  Yeah, yeah. Now this this is sort of like a double layer one. So the term in Thai wow means to to pull on a kite. So if you imagine you're holding the string to a kite and the kite is up in the air and you're, you're sort of like pulling it towards you. And of course you do that over and over again. It looks like you're masturbating as a guy. So Chuck Wow is like the slang term for masturbator.

Ed (00:28:17) -  Yeah. So what does the rest of it say?

Greg (00:28:19) -  So this one not clean. Wow, bro. So basically it means like he's a professional masturbator, a professional kite flier.

Ed (00:28:28) -  But professional is so funny. A professional kite flyer. Yeah. So?

Greg (00:28:32) -  So basically, it's someone who's, like, always horny.

Ed (00:28:35) -  Oh, like. Oh, like a guy who can control himself or. Funny. Yeah. Well, that's a great that's a great expression. Listeners, I wouldn't, I wouldn't I'd be careful about who you use this to describe, but yeah.

Greg (00:28:46) -  Yeah I find like a lot, like a lot of Thai phrases like they could be taken the wrong way really quickly by the wrong person. So you got to be careful where you use them. But I can be like, you know, young David over there. Yeah, he's a professional kite flyer, you know what I mean? You got to watch or watch yourself around him.

Ed (00:29:02) -  It's so funny. It's so funny. Anyway. Thanks. Bank.

Greg (00:29:05) -  Yeah. Thanks, bank. I'm going to, not use that willy nilly around. And I'm going to think. Think first before I say it.

Ed (00:29:11) -  Correct? Correct. Alrighty. A final thanks to our patrons who support the show. Patrons get a ton of cool perks and the warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that they're helping in our never ending quest for cool content. Find out more by clicking support on our website and connect with us online. Where Bangkok podcasts on social media Bangkok podcast. Com on the web or simply Bangkok Podcast at gmail.com. We love hearing from our listeners and always reply to our messages.

Greg (00:29:40) -  That's right. You can also listen to each episode on YouTube, send us a voicemail through our website, will feature on the show. Hit me up on threads at BCC Greg or the Fediverse at BC threads dot net nerd. Thank you for listening, everyone. Take it easy out there and we'll see you back here next week. No doubt.