Season 7 - Page 2 | The Bangkok Podcast

Oct. 22, 2024

Wats & Working Girls: How Thailand Balances Buddhism and Red Lights [S7.E42]

Greg and Ed begin a new series called “Thailand: Land of Contradictions” with the first installment addressing a fascinating, apparent conflict in Thai culture: how can Thailand have so many temples on the one hand, but also so many ‘working...

Oct. 15, 2024

Future Southeast Asia's James Clark on Thailand's Transport Infrastructure [S7.E41]

Greg interviews James Clark, the founder of Future Southeast Asia, a website and newsletter focused on transport and urban development in Southeast Asia. The guys begin with the most exciting developments in Thailand’s railway system, and James mentions the 250 km/hr...

Oct. 8, 2024

What Are the Limits of "Mai Pen Rai"? [S7.E40]

Greg and Ed discuss one of the pillars of Thai culture, the general attitude of ‘mai pen rai’ or ‘no problem.’ As the guys have mentioned many times, this attitude is one of the main reasons that living in Thailand is so enjoyable for expats....

Oct. 1, 2024

Counselor Amy Pothong Talks About Mental Health in Thailand [S7.E39]

Mental health in Thailand has never really had its time in the spotlight, but things are slowly changing as more and more Thais realize that taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your physical health. On this episode...

Sept. 24, 2024

Political Cheat Sheet: Prof. Ed Sums Up Ten Years of Thai Politics [S7.E38]

In our semi-annual update on Thai politics, Ed does his best to explain the current situation and how Thailand arrived here over the last ten years. He begins with the framework that defined Thai politics for almost 15 years: one party led by the...

Sept. 17, 2024

The Dangers of Letting Bangkok’s Delivery Apps Take Over [S7.E37]

Greg and Ed discuss the ‘delivery lifestyle,’ the habit of staying at home and relying on delivery services to bring food and products straight to your doorstep. Both guys admit to slipping into this habit, but Greg enjoys getting out more and...

Sept. 10, 2024

Journalist Patrick Winn Discusses His Book ‘Narcotopia’ [S7.E36]

Greg welcomes back Patrick Winn to the podcast, an intrepid writer and expert on all things dark and shady in Southeast Asia. He previously appeared on the show to discuss his book “Hello Shadowlands,” and he returns to explain his new work,...

Sept. 3, 2024

What Comes Next: Greg & Ed Try to Predict Bangkok’s Future [S7.E35]

Putting on their best tarot reading hat…or numerology hat…or tea leaf hat…whatever…Greg and Ed make their best prognostications about the future of Bangkok, relying only on their accumulated wisdom and experience. Greg begins by asking Ed...

Aug. 27, 2024

Journalist Dominic Faulder on the Complex History Between Thailand & Myanmar [S7.E34]

Greg interviews Dominic Faulder, associate editor at Nikkei Asia, long-time journalist in Southeast Asia and observer of the political and diplomatic machinations of Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia over the past 40 years. The main...

Aug. 19, 2024

Selling Thailand to the World: How do the Non-Travelers See Us? [S7.E33]

In the wake of Ed’s recent high school reunion, Greg and Ed discuss how to sell Thailand to all different types of people, especially those who have only learned about the place through stories, TV and often dubious word of mouth. The Land of...

Aug. 13, 2024

Don't be That Guy: Expat Stereotypes You Should Avoid [S7.E32]

Greg and Ed discuss some negative expat stereotypes - roughly the person you (probably) don’t want to become while living in Thailand...at least forever. We all fall prey to stereotypes sometimes - they have to come from somewhere - but if you’re...

Aug. 6, 2024

Phra Pandit Lends His Insight: What Buddhism Says About the Seven Deadly Sins - Part 2 [S7.E31]

On part 2 of 2 Greg continues his interview with returning show favorite, Phra Pandit on the Buddhist interpretation of the Seven Deadly Sins of western religion. Without wasting any time they pick up where they left off last week and dive right into...

July 30, 2024

Phra Pandit Lends his Insight: What Buddhism Says About the Seven Deadly Sins - Part 1 [S7.E30]

Greg interviews returning show favorite, Phra Pandit on the Buddhist interpretation of the Seven Deadly Sins of western religion. After a brief introduction explaining Phra Pandit’s current (temporary) abode in Toronto, Canada, the guys get down to...

July 23, 2024

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

Having had the somewhat unenviable (?) POV of living in Bangkok both in their 20s AND in their late 40s (and more), Greg and Ed pro/con Bangkok for different age groups. Is Bangkok really a city for twenty-somethings or fifty-somethings? Greg begins...

July 16, 2024

Lawyer Dave Lawrence Gives a Legal Perspective on Divorce in Thailand [S7.E28]

Greg and Ed interview Dave Lawrence of about the technicalities of divorce in Thailand. Although Ed previously discussed his big ‘D’ on an earlier show, his situation was so simple that it’s probably not representative of the typical divorce....

July 9, 2024

AI vs The Big Mango: What ChatGPT 4o and Gemini Know (and don’t know) about Bangkok [S7.E27]

Greg and Ed perform an interesting test of the current state of AI: can you actually trust what different AI’s have to say about Bangkok and Thailand? Greg uses ChatGPT, while Ed is a Google guy through and through, so Gemini it is. The first...

July 2, 2024

Blending Fact & Fiction: Paul & Yuangrat Wedel Return to Discuss Their Novels Set in 1900s Siam Part 2 [S7.E26]

This is Part Two of Greg and Ed’s interview with Paul and Yuangrat Wedel, returning guests to the show who previously talked about their book “Radical Thought, Thai Mind.” This time around the fascinating couple discuss their two novels,...

June 25, 2024

Blending Fact & Fiction: Paul & Yuangrat Wedel Return to Discuss Their Novels Set in 1900s Siam [S7.E25]

Greg and Ed interview Paul and Yuangrat Wedel, returning guests to the show who previously talked about their book “Radical Thought, Thai Mind.” This time around the fascinating couple discuss their two novels, “Beads On A String” and “Dark...

June 18, 2024

Ed’s City Review: Bangkok vs Hong Kong - Which One Comes Out on Top? [S7.E24]

Continuing our regional focus of late, Greg and Ed discuss Ed’s recent trip to Hong Kong and how it compares to big, bad Bangkok. Ed begins with a big caveat: he’s not really much of a traveler, and he spent only 2 ½ days in Hong Kong, so his...

June 11, 2024

Regional Podcast Pals: Joah McGee on Covering Tragedy & Hope on Insight Myanmar [S7.E23]

Wrapping up our short series on our regional podcast peers, Greg interviews Joah McGee from the . Joah begins by explaining his early life in Myanmar and how he initially went to the country to study meditation and later secured a proper job doing...

June 4, 2024

Bangkok Devaluation: A Few Things That Used to Matter…But Don’t Anymore [S7.E22]

In a possible new series, Greg and Ed discuss things that have become less important or meaningful since they began living in Thailand. In short, stuff that we used to value a lot that just seems not to matter as much anymore. Ed begins with the...

May 28, 2024

Regional Podcast Pals: Mike Tatarski on Producing the Vietnam Weekly from Ho Chi Minh City [S7.E21]

Greg interviews Mike Tatarski of the . Mike begins by explaining the podcast originated out of his of the same name. After taking a course in ‘entrepreneurial journalism,’ he got motivated to fire up the podcast, and the rest is history. He...

May 21, 2024

Looking Back on the 2006 Coup and Why We’re Still Feeling it Today [S7.E20]

Greg and Ed revisit the 2006 coup in Thailand and reminisce about the oddness but also impactfulness of the experience. Ed begins with a quick recap of the career of Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire business tycoon who swept to power...

May 14, 2024

Checking in on Bangkok’s Craft Beer Scene with BangkokBeerGuide.com [S7.E19]

Greg interviews Clif from about the ever evolving craft beer scene in Thailand. Cliff begins with the basic premise for the website and related social media: to act as a guide for locals and visitors to all the beer drinking opportunities in Bangkok,...