Hmmm…A Few Things About Bangkok That Are Over & Underrated [S7.E57]

Greg 00:00:05 On this episode, we take a listener's idea to discuss three underrated and three overrated things about Bangkok.

Ed 00:00:12 So if you want to hear our take on what you should really value in Bangkok, you'll dig this episode of The Bangkok Project.

Greg 00:00:32 Swati and welcome to the Bangkok Podcast. My name is Greg Jorgensen, a Canadian who came to Thailand in 2001 to build my fortune counting cards at blackjack. But not only did I find out that both playing cards and gambling are illegal in Thailand, but also that counting cards is actually more complicated than just counting to 52.

Ed 00:00:51 Dude, the whole playing card thing is, is a weird fact because back in the day, I tried to buy playing cards and it was shockingly difficult to do. Yeah.

Greg 00:00:59 You have to find like a like you have to find like a black market guided by kids game basically.

Ed 00:01:06 That's right. Underground underground plan. And I made Knuth, an American who came to Thailand on a one year teaching contract 24 years ago, fell in love with the menacing but in practice, quite helpful motorbike mafia at the end of every story I've ever lived on.

Ed 00:01:22 So I never left.

Greg 00:01:23 The rule of the rule of the streets in Bangkok. Man is two people. You always got to make friends with the motorcycle taxi guys in your hood and the security guards that you're building.

Ed 00:01:31 That is some that is some deep, deep wisdom.

Greg 00:01:34 That's right, that's right. Wisdom from Uncle Greg.

Ed 00:01:36 We want to give a quick thank you to one of our patrons, Peter Holmes, who supports us at the show. Shout out level. Stick around after we're done talking about underrated and overrated things about Bangkok. To hear why Peter might be behind you right now. We also 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 like Peter also get an unscripted, uncensored bonus episode every week where we riff on current events and Bangkok topics on this week's bonus show.

Ed 00:02:18 We did another episode of Greg Thinks everyone else is an idiot, but in reality he's the idiot. Greg Greg grab delivery version and afternoon we spent with friend of the show Sujay Raj, playing around with his language learning tools and a surprisingly spirited debate around the upsides and downsides of the potential new law that would make gambling legal in Thailand. To learn how to become a patron and get all this good stuff, plus full access to over 700 bonus and regular backup uploads, click the support button at the top of our website.

Greg 00:02:53 Tell you, man, once I learned how to count to 104, those casinos are going to be in trouble.

Ed 00:02:57 That's right. That's right.

Greg 00:02:59 Can't. Can't keep up. And also, quick aside here, as patrons may remember, Ed talked on a bonus show a little while ago about his time as an on set photographer for a new Thai musical film called dream. That's directed by our pal and former guest, Paul Spurrier. Well, we have been given two tickets to a private screening of dream, and we want to give them away to our listeners.

Greg 00:03:21 Now, of this recording, the screening date hasn't been confirmed, but it will be on a weekend sometime between February 23rd and March 9th, and will be attended, of course, by the cast, crew, director and many others. So if you'd like to throw your hat in the ring and see if you can make it to the screening, send an email to Bangkok Podcast at gmail.com. On February 19th, we will pick two names at random, each of whom will get a ticket to watch the show. And obviously offer is only valid to people who live in Bangkok or will be in Bangkok between February 23rd and March 9th. So there you go.

Ed 00:03:55 Dude, That's sweet. I'm looking forward to it.

Greg 00:03:57 Yeah, it'll be fun. Alrighty then. Well, in this episode, we take a cue from one of our patrons, our buddy Gretton, who suggested this idea. He asked us what are three most overrated and three most underrated things about living in Thailand. and we thought that might make for a fun discussion.

Greg 00:04:14 Now, like we've said before, no place is perfect and no one can love everything about their home, even if they love living there like we do in Bangkok. But as one of the world's most visited cities, there are a lot of things that people do that they end up not liking, and a lot of things that people miss out on that they should have tried. Obviously, this is a highly subjective list, and we wanted to stay away from simply saying, this thing sucks. So take all of this with a grain of salt. But Ed and I have opinions and you may agree with us. You may disagree with us. And what do you think about this? Three underrated and three overrated?

Ed 00:04:43 I like it, I like it. you know, as always, I do have my opinions.

Greg 00:04:48 Yeah, we all have opinions. And, it's surprising how many people disagree with mine, but I guess they're all wrong.

Ed 00:04:53 Yeah. They must.

Greg 00:04:55 So each of us, picked three, and, we'll just go.

Greg 00:04:58 We'll go back and forth like we do normally with these type of listings we have. And, and do you want, you want to take one first one, or do you want me to go first?

Ed 00:05:05 Oh, why don't you go first?

Greg 00:05:07 Okay, well, I'll start with the the let's start with the overrated things about Bangkok. And I've actually chosen two places that are very, very, very popular and always get asked about when people want to visit here. But that is one is the Grand Palace and two is the. Floating market. I probably butchered that name, but, have you been to both? You've been to both of these places, right?

Ed 00:05:28 Correct.

Greg 00:05:30 Of course. Yeah. And the reason that I think they are, overrated is just because of the sheer number of tourists and tourist infrastructure crammed into these places, and that might not alone, might not warrant the, the ignoble, overrated badge if it weren't for the fact that there are a lot of other places almost as good as those places that have almost no tourists in them.

Greg 00:05:57 So they're a much more attractive destination than these two that everyone seems to put at the top of their list.

Ed 00:06:05 Oh, I like I like the way you framed that. because I normally tell people it's worth going, you know, one time, but I get your point. That's an excellent point that, the the the added value of going to these places is not that great.

Greg 00:06:20 right.

Ed 00:06:21 So I think I think we're on the same page. So, so, so I think this is the only one of, of the six things where you and I overlap a little bit. But so I'll just run with my version of yours. So you mentioned some specific things that are overrated, but I've mentioned this before. I think just temples overall are overrated. Like really. And it's and it's funny because I, I am one of those foreigners that has an interest in Buddhism. I've, I've meditated a fair amount. I, I. I. I do think it's cool and it's a fascinating part of, of Thai culture.

Ed 00:06:57 But to me once you've gone to 2 or 3 temples, then, then to me it's like to me, almost all the other ones have gone to have been repetitious, I remember. back in the day when I was married, you know, which was more than ten years, you know, we would travel somewhere and my wife would want to go to, like, a temple. And I would always, always be like, why? You know, it's a, you know, it's just the temple in over here, and then the temple in this place and then the temple in Chiang Mai. And I'm like, it's I'm not saying never go to a temple. I'm not saying that. It's just I find them, you know, whatever. Like church is in America. I know there's some very unique, special ones. Fine, check out those. But who goes to who goes to a town in in Calgary? It's like, well, I'm like, I'm going to check out the local church.

Greg 00:07:47 It's kind of like, reminds me of when you go to anywhere close to the seaside and your Thai friends say, we got to go to this one seafood restaurant, it's the best here. And you travel exactly two hours, exactly the same as every other seafood meal you've ever had in your life.

Ed 00:08:01 So, Olive, to be honest, all of my overrated things, you know, I've got three. One of them being temples I do feel a little bit bad about because I'm not saying, like, never go to a Thai temple. I'm not saying that. I think I think they're cool and, you know, and even even the Grand Palace, you're totally right that the crowds are not worth it. And there's other cool temples I usually tell my friends or people who ask. I tell them it's worth going to the Grand Palace at least once, but but check the Google thing and figure out when it's the least busy, because there's, you know, for tourists, for us, it's not special.

Ed 00:08:36 But for tourists, there are cool photography options available, sure, but it's not. It's, of course, not only the Grand Palace, there's other palaces almost equally photogenic, you know.

Greg 00:08:46 Almost.

Ed 00:08:47 Almost, almost.

Greg 00:08:48 and yeah, I agree, like the Grand Palace is is undeniably gorgeous. It's it's the beating heart of Buddhism in Thailand. It's beautiful. Yeah. And if you really must see it, then by all means. Some people say when I say that, it's sort of like saying, go to Paris and not see the Eiffel Tower. Like, I get it, I get it.

Ed 00:09:04 But, I mean, I basically agree with what you're saying. I, I'm more on the, you know, pick 2 or 3 of the most famous temples, go to them. And then to me after that, it's like there's diminishing returns, like seriously diminishing returns after that.

Greg 00:09:19 Okay, I get it, I get it.

Ed 00:09:20 Okay. So so our first ones, we roughly agree. So give me another, overrate.

Greg 00:09:25 While I'm here too. I might as well just say the temples. Like, if you want to go, like I've said it on the show before, alternative temples to the Grand Palace, I always suggest people go to what, Rachel Pitt and or what, sweetheart? And, for, floating markets, you can go to, Mayan or, Lincoln floating market. Both really, really good. Both far less crowded than them and see which also a lot of people don't know, is like a two hour drive outside of Bangkok. So. Right, right, right. Yeah. okay. So then let me go into my number two overrated thing. and I'm not sure if you're going to agree with me here, but my overrated thing is pad Thai. Oh, blast. Blast. I do not like. Do not like pad Thai. I do not get. I don't get the hubbub around it.

Ed 00:10:10 Okay, well, the reason that's blasphemy is you're saying. You're saying you don't like it because of how it tastes, rather than the fact that it's like fascist invention, which is if you said, hey, this is like a fascist invention, I don't want to eat it.

Ed 00:10:23 I, I might respect that, but I love it. I love Pad Thai, I, I really and I know I always feel embarrassed when I order because it makes me feel. It makes me feel like I look like a tourist.

Greg 00:10:37 Right?

Ed 00:10:37 Right. You know, and so I almost want to order pad Thai and say, hey, I've been living here for 20 years.

Greg 00:10:41 They're like, oh, sorry, sir. Before you go to eat Pad Thai here, you gotta put on these elephant pants.

Ed 00:10:45 That's right. That's right. So I feel I feel bad every time I try it or every time I order it. But I love part time. And that is. That is blasphemy, sir.

Greg 00:10:53 I just don't get it. And maybe it has to do with the last time that I had pad Thai that I can remember. I happened to be on Coulson Road, and I thought for some reason it would be a good idea to order from one of, like, the street stalls there.

Greg 00:11:05 And it was just. It was shit. It tasted like metal and.

Ed 00:11:09 Oh, really?

Greg 00:11:10 Maybe, maybe it just sort of gave me PTSD or something, but I just find it a really boring, unimaginative dish when there's so much more delicious things to have.

Ed 00:11:19 So there's certainly a lot of other things. And Pad Thai can be plain if you don't, you know, throw a little chili on there, a little sugar or whatever. So yeah, I agree, I agree. You gotta you gotta give it some, some, spiciness. But I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one.

Greg 00:11:36 All right. All right. What's yours?

Ed 00:11:37 All right. Here we go. And again, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but. I think Thai High customer service is overrated. And this is a tricky thing because, because Thai people do have a great smile and they have good hearts and that is worth a lot in customer service. But I think people look at that. They look at the smiles and the helpfulness and they they think and they think and there is hospitality in, in the, in the warmth of the, of the term, you know, but just the, the and again, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not some kind of snob.

Ed 00:12:18 I'm not a world traveler. You know, I'm a middle class guy from Ohio, but customer service in Thailand can just drive me crazy and and how unprofessional it is. And I feel like I don't have high standards, is what I'm saying. But it's okay. You know, it's like I, you know, I have many examples, but it's it's, you know, it's like going into a small Thai restaurant sitting down. You're the only one there. And then, you know, they take eight minutes to come talk to you. And then, you know, 15 minutes to get your food. And I'm just looking around like, what in God's name is taking so long? I mean, but I have many examples like this. Now, I want to be clear, there's some exceptions to this. If you step into international Thailand, it's different. So if you step into a five star hotel, you're going to get world class customer service. Sure. So that that that's not real Thailand.

Ed 00:13:06 That's not real Bangkok. That's these are people trained. Those are people trained by Marriott and Hyatt. And so or you know what I'm saying? But I'm talking about just in the average Thai shop or restaurant you will get friendly service. So and again, if that's all you want, fine. If you don't mind waiting 15 minutes for something that should take five minutes. You know what I'm saying? Right.

Greg 00:13:28 So, so so you're saying people always say like, sorry. There's like, oh, Thai people are so lovely and friendly and welcoming and like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But when it comes to, like, service, that's not enough.

Ed 00:13:39 Yes. That's that is my point. I think that and again, I know it sounds harsh because and again, I want to give them credit, like being good hearted and smiling. That is worth something. It's just it's just not everything. And and I don't I also I'm trying to I try to be careful not to necessarily blame the, the the staff themselves.

Ed 00:14:01 It's like a lack of training. You know, it's like if you if you don't train people how to be professional, then they're not going to be professional. So it you know, to me that's it's one it's on my list of things that bug me that I don't like.

Greg 00:14:14 Right. I would I would agree with that I would agree. Yeah. It's it's they know how to.

Ed 00:14:19 Smile, to be flexible. Like, you know, you just have to be flexible in a way. Like the bottom line is this, as our friend John has said, if you don't want to, you know, have an aneurysm, you have to lower your standards like you have.

Greg 00:14:34 His term is fantastic. It's the range of the acceptably wrong.

Ed 00:14:37 That's right, that's right. You you you have to. You have to just lower things down and chill out. You know, if you're used to Western standards, it's just. It's just. They don't meet Western standards. That's just it. Right. But they're sweet.

Ed 00:14:51 But they're super sweet. You know, that's the that's the deal. That's the deal you get.

Greg 00:14:55 Interesting. Okay. I agree with that I agree. Well my third one my third thing is that's overrated about about living in Bangkok and I guess wider Thailand. and this is kind of hard to, to, to just sort of boil down to simply saying it's overrated. It's a bit more complex than that. But I've written down here respect because because I think that respect in Thailand is given too easily, and it's given automatically to people who may not deserve it. People who are old or rich or with the proper last name or well connected. Oh, and it is deep. This might be the deepest thought I've ever had. My brain's hurting a little bit. I'm glad I got this. I'm glad I got this. Sugar cane rum with me. But. But, you know, where were you and I come from? Respect is earned.

Ed 00:15:54 Agreed.

Greg 00:15:55 And you don't. Just automatically. I don't give a shit how much money you have.

Greg 00:15:59 If you're a jerk to me, or if you treat my wife wrong like I'm not going to respect you if you don't earn it. I don't care what your last name is. Right. So I think it's really. It's really overrated here. The importance of it. Because it's so easily given out.

Ed 00:16:13 Wow. That's like that. That. That's deep. Okay, there's a couple of things. My here's my immediate reaction is that I agree. But I think I think what's happening is what you kind of said is that we're you know, we grew up in a different culture. And so we have a Western mindset. and so I but but the truth is, I end up having mixed feelings about this because, it's a little bit. It's a little bit tricky sometimes. I think the problem with the West is that you can you can go from being like somebody to nobody really fast, you know. You know, it's kind of like, formerly successful or whatever. And then all of a sudden they're nobody because they're they're not on this TV show anymore.

Ed 00:16:57 It's like the thing about Thailand, it's like or Asia in general. It's like, it's it's there's a there's a charitable aspect to respect where you meet someone older. So the assumption is they've been through some shit and they have some wisdom. But you're right, like being older doesn't make you better. It doesn't make you worthy of respect. You could be a horrible person and be 75. Right? But, but, but I like the charitable because when, you know, obviously we're getting older now. So it's like I, I feel that I would just like the charity of a younger person showing respect to me, even though they're right. I, you know, I, you know, I could be a, you know, a human trafficker who knows who I am, but you know what I mean. So I, I, I understand your point, but I do think this is a, this is a deep kind of clash of cultures thing.

Greg 00:17:49 Yeah.

Ed 00:17:50 You know.

Greg 00:17:50 And also forks, like, there's a difference between showing respect and giving respect.

Greg 00:17:56 Like, you know, like showing respect and having genuine respect for someone. There are two very different things, obviously in social situations. I, I will y a Thai person deeply, even if I think they're a jerk, you know, because that needs to be done. So I'm showing respect, but I don't actually respect the person. You know, so it's it's complicated.

Ed 00:18:15 But I understand your point though. I mean, respect respect should be earned. I mean, yeah, so you're right. I can't argue with that. I can't argue with that.

Greg 00:18:23 Yeah. Yeah. So that was my that.

Ed 00:18:24 Was my all right. My third overrated thing. Again, this might also get me into trouble. but, we talked about this a little bit on the bonus show, actually. listeners, is I think that Bangkok nightlife. Actually, I should say this Thai nightlife is somewhat overrated, given the talent has a reputation for being a great place for nightlife. And I'm going to include, which might sound like blasphemy to regular listeners.

Ed 00:18:52 I think the music scene is somewhat overrated in in the sense that even though I, I can find great music in Bangkok, given the size of Bangkok, there should be a lot more like like, the truth is, if you ask me to compare the Bangkok music scene to other cities, even though I have like a temple here that I go to, that I love the entire music scene. I think it kind of sucks. It should be much bigger. and so, and I'm going to say the same thing about nightlife. The thing about I don't think it's right to say, oh, Thailand is famous for its nightlife when there's a closing time at midnight in most of the country, or maybe one or possibly 2 a.m. if you're lucky. So it's over. It's almost like false advertising, I think. And we've talked about it before with terrorists where terrorists come here and they're like, I'm going to Bangkok. And then it's like, bam! The bars close at midnight and it's like, what is up? So I so I think, I think the nightlife is overrated, number one, because of the closing times.

Ed 00:19:55 And this is why we talked about this on the bonus show. I want Bangkok to I want Thailand to embrace its nightlife image. And I think they should have later closing times. And they should embrace the fact that we are and take it seriously and become a real nightlife venue. Also, the other problem with Bangkok nightlife is it suffers the same problem that I think some Thai restaurants have, that I feel like there's only about five different types of bars in Bangkok. You know, you get.

Greg 00:20:24 You.

Ed 00:20:24 See that you got your Irish pubs and sports bars over here. You got like the sleazy clubs that stay open late that are like meat markets. You know, that's a thing that's like another type. You know, there are like some specific live music venues, which I like, but I don't know. And and then there's like the hi. So cocktail scene and okay. This is tricky. I don't think the nightlife in Bangkok is bad. It's not bad. I just think that it's not world class.

Ed 00:20:57 I don't think it's great. I'm curious what listeners think. I mean, I don't think it's world class, but I think it could be. I just I wish the government would embrace it more. And I wish there it really was a late night city. part.

Greg 00:21:10 Of the city is sort of like a victim of the bureaucracy, like it wants to be more than it is.

Ed 00:21:15 Part of this comes from, I mean, my, you know, the first six months I was in Thailand, there were no closing times, and. Right. Yeah. So my I, for me, Bangkok was the city that never sleeps. Now, that was 23.5 years ago. I mean, it's deep, but that was just my first impression of Bangkok is that it never closes. And then it got ripped. It got pulled out from under me. And that was 23.5 years ago.

Greg 00:21:46 But I'm still bitter about it.

Ed 00:21:48 No, I still remember that. I just still remember that experience of where there were 30 places you could go to at 3 a.m., I remember that.

Ed 00:21:59 And, you know, now there's still 10 or 5, you know, late night things, but it's kind of hidden away and I don't know. I think nightlife in Thailand is good, but not great.

Greg 00:22:13 All right. I would agree with that. I just there's there's the rock n roll bars. There's the incense. Right. bars. Yeah, there's the British pubs. The Irish pubs.

Ed 00:22:26 Yeah, yeah, there's the there's the crowded, super loud time music places.

Greg 00:22:32 Yeah, there's not a lot of variety, and it could be more, but I don't think it's for lack of trying. It's just it's a difficult environment to to expand and grow and evolve.

Ed 00:22:41 Probably true.

Greg 00:22:43 All right. Well let's move on to underrated things and things that are that are underrated about living in Bangkok. And I'll go first. So the one that I'm going to choose. I'm surprised I thought of this, actually, because I haven't been there in years. And again, it's it's probably because it is underrated.

Greg 00:22:58 I got to go back, but it is the Erawan Museum. Have you ever been there?

Ed 00:23:02 I have been there. but you're right. It's been a long time. It's been a long time.

Greg 00:23:06 Yeah. For those that don't know, this is the one that's in some province just southeast of Bangkok. Just. It's right on the Skytrain line. It's right next to a Skytrain station. But it's the giant museum that has the the massive three headed elephant statue on the roof. And, man, I remember I was I was only there once, and it was. God, it was 12 years ago. I think I went with Richard Barrow, actually, and I was stunned at how beautiful it is inside. It's just a gorgeous place. But man, I and maybe I'm out of the loop, but I just I don't think I've known many people who have gone recently or who ever, ever talk about it.

Ed 00:23:44 You're right.

Greg 00:23:44 It seems to sort of be. Yeah. Off the radar. It's it's it's really worth visiting.

Greg 00:23:50 And again, it's right next to the Skytrain station. but it's a gorgeous place I don't think gets enough love.

Ed 00:23:55 That's a good reminder. I would have to agree with that. It's been a long time since I've been. And you're right. I just haven't heard anyone talk about it. So I have to agree with that. Now, mine is much more general. Okay, so my my yours is a mine is much more general. I think Thai taxis and taxi drivers are underrated. We've had this argument before. I think it's a very common thing for people to bitch about taxi drivers like, oh, the taxi wouldn't take me where I wanted to go. The taxi turned, right. I wanted to turn left. I agree with all those things, but it's still not bad. Like, it's just. I think people talk about Thai taxis like they're horrible. It's like just it's it's a whipping horse. You know, it's like something that people. It's something that people like to bitch about.

Ed 00:24:44 And it's just not. It's just not that bad.

Greg 00:24:46 It's the Star Wars The Phantom Menace of public transport in Bangkok.

Ed 00:24:50 No Phantom Menace is actually that.

Greg 00:24:52 You're right. That's pretty terrible. Yeah, that was a bad analogy, but.

Ed 00:24:54 No, you know, you know what it is. Taxis are like the pizza company of pizza because people are like, pizza company sucks. And you and I are like, it doesn't suck. It's not bad. That's right. Taxi taxis are the pizza company of pizza. Of pizza in Thailand.

Greg 00:25:10 Public transport.

Ed 00:25:11 The bottom line is, it's just. They're just. It's just not that bad. Even with all the negatives and there are. And believe me, I'm. I'm the. I am a Bangkok taxi veteran. And the reason I just keep the reason I keep going is because, like most of the time it's just fine.

Greg 00:25:27 The only reason I'm not disagreeing with you more, I generally agree with you, but the only reason I'm not disagreeing with you more is that it's just so cheap.

Greg 00:25:35 I mean, if if if the price was triple, then yeah, it would be pretty terrible.

Ed 00:25:39 No, I agree, I mean you got to factor that in. It's just. Yeah, there's just usually not much of a reason to bitch about it. It's just a great deal.

Greg 00:25:47 It's just it's what she pays for.

Ed 00:25:48 As I said, it's a great it's a great deal.

Greg 00:25:50 Yeah. All right. Well my second one is pretty. It's pretty specific, actually. And I'm not even sure that a lot of people might know what this is. And I know in other countries it's called different, a different name. But in my experience, to be fair, a lot of companies might not have this, but in the companies and situations that I have known where they do have it, the employees who can take advantage of it don't. And they don't think it's a good idea even though they should. And this is a provident fund. Do you know.

Ed 00:26:23 That? Okay. I mean, now that you put it in context, when I.

Ed 00:26:25 When I saw it on your list, I didn't know what you're talking about. But now, now and now I know what you're talking about. But you know, I never, I never I've never worked for a company that has a provident fund. So for me, I'm kind of out of. It doesn't apply to me.

Greg 00:26:37 But right about about half of the companies I've worked for in Thailand have it and about half don't. So I understand it's not available for everyone, but very basically, a provident fund allows a company to take a certain percentage of your paycheck and put it away in an investment account, and then they will match it up to a certain percentage. So, for instance, when I was at Agoda, I think I was taking 10% of my paycheck and putting it into a savings account and say, say that was 1000 baht or whatever. And then, Agoda would take I think it was up to 2.5 or 3, five, five or something percent and put it in the same account.

Greg 00:27:15 So if I was saving 1000 baht, they would be putting in 350 baht or whatever it was into my savings account and after when I when I left Agoda, I had a good chunk of money saved.

Ed 00:27:27 Nice.

Greg 00:27:28 But I've talked to a lot of Thai employees who are just who just think it's like, no, I just I'd rather have the money. Just give.

Ed 00:27:34 It to me.

Greg 00:27:34 I want that.

Ed 00:27:35 Yeah, yeah. I mean, this is something I wonder if this is, actually just true universally or if it really is a Thai or a Bangkok thing, but it could be. But it could be. It could be a thing that Thai people caught on to it. This is an interesting topic. I, I don't actually know much about it. I wonder if foreign employees are more likely to to take, you know, to, to pay it.

Greg 00:27:58 Yeah, I don't know. And I am not someone to be giving financial advice at all.

Ed 00:28:02 But but it's Greg Greg on finance.

Greg 00:28:05 That's what a disaster. But but but it's so brilliant. It's like it's so easy and it's so painless and you don't even notice it's gone. I mean, 10% is a lot, but if you're giving like 2% a month and the company is giving 2%. Like that's free money, man. And I think that people should, Yeah, I think people should take more advantage of it.

Ed 00:28:28 Responsible, Greg.

Greg 00:28:29 That's very rare. Very rare.

Ed 00:28:31 But that's what we got tonight. All right. My second underrated thing is, And you're going to love. This is Bangkok. Tap water. Get over it. It's fine. Let's get over it. Just. That's what I'm gonna tell you. Everyone out there, just get over it. It's fine. I mean, now, the caveat, which we we did cover on a previous show, the caveat is if if the plumbing in your building is contaminated, then obviously, then, you know, don't drink it. But but it's it's shocking to me that just almost no one drinks Bangkok tap water.

Ed 00:29:02 But it passes like all the health and safety tests.

Greg 00:29:04 This is a great one. I do agree 100%. And it's funny, I was just reading something on Reddit like this afternoon about this. Someone was arguing about it. and yeah, that's the consensus. The tap water is fine. The pipes? Maybe not. Yeah.

Ed 00:29:17 You gotta be careful. Yeah, so I'm not saying drink anything, but, it's just the. The water coming from the city is fine. And and, you know, tourists treat Bangkok like Mexico. And I'm like, it's not it's not Mexico.

Greg 00:29:31 And there's also a really fantastic website online. I can't find it. I can't I can't remember what it's called, but it, it has like live monitoring of all of the water pumps in Bangkok. And by all measures like the pH levels and the quality levels are all way above board. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ed 00:29:47 I don't get over it people.

Greg 00:29:49 Unless your pipes are shitty then.

Ed 00:29:51 That's right.

Ed 00:29:52 Yeah. And don't blame me if you get sick.

Greg 00:29:55 All right. Well, my last one for under, things that are underrated is, And this is coming. As someone who is obsessed with Japanese history, and I love Roman history and European history. World War two, World war one. But I, I every time I learn more about Thai history, I think, man, this this really gets kind of a short shrift. I think it should be talked about more because it's really, really interesting. And I don't think people talk about it enough.

Ed 00:30:20 Oh, I think you're right. I every time I, I mean, you and I obviously have done show different shows on it or, you know, we've talked about, novels based on Thai history. And, every time I learn something, I think, wow, I should learn. I should learn more. You know, that's always my table, right? Right. It's rarely boring. It's rarely boring. You know, I learned my history, and I'm like, oh, that's so cool.

Ed 00:30:44 That's weird.

Greg 00:30:45 Yeah, exactly. And there's there's crazy stories. You got war elephants. You've got people standing up with giant spears with swords on the ends. That's right. Armies marching to and fro. You got Sultanate in the South. You've got the anchor empire in the east. The Burmese on the west. Like it's. It's a crazy history of.

Ed 00:31:02 It's very.

Greg 00:31:02 Dynamic. Very dynamic. Yeah. And I think, I think it it doesn't get a lot of respect from, from most people. They sort of overlook it. So that's my last underrated one.

Ed 00:31:12 I agree 100%. and I think this is I think this last one, you're probably going to agree on. And it's again, it's another thing I feel guilty about is, I'll just call it off the beaten path. Thailand. It's underrated. I understand why people want to come to Bangkok or people want to see Phuket or Samui or Chiang Mai. There's nothing wrong with those places. But, I mean, and I don't do it enough, but when I do just go to random places, I'm usually surprised.

Ed 00:31:45 You know, it's like when I get off the beaten path and just go to a smaller town or smaller city. It's usually quaint in some way that I never expected a I mean, just and I wish I had more examples, but, you know, I've been to Ubon a couple of times and Ubon is it's supposed to be the boonies. You know, it's it's it's deep into Eastside. It's the boonies. It's not on the tourist trail. Right. But Ubon was like I said, it was quaint. There were coffee shops. It was I mean, again, I guess if you go off the beaten path, of course you're not going to have like some awesome nightlife. So of course you're not going to be able to do what you can do in Phuket. If you're off the beaten path. But, we, we've talked about it with Stuart from Travel Fish. the Thai government wants to, but they got to do a better job of promoting, like, secondary. What do you call.

Ed 00:32:37 What did we call them? Secondary.

Greg 00:32:38 Secondary. Secondary destinations. Yeah yeah yeah I agree.

Ed 00:32:41 It's totally true. It's not BBS, it's not just marketing. It usually, usually when I go to those secondary destinations, I'm like, oh, oh this is like kind of better than I thought.

Greg 00:32:55 Right? I agree with that. Yeah, I think so too. These secondary destinations, there's always something charming. I mean, we've talked before about how there's not really a road trip culture here because a lot of the towns are very similar. But but if you get out to some of these smaller towns, there's plenty of charming places.

Ed 00:33:09 Well, it's like beautiful. This is why we got to go to East Town. You know, it's like this. It's what feels sad about Nissan and and udon and how he loves it. You know, and he's just having cool experiences. And I think people forget it. Even, you know expats we get in our Bangkok bubble. And like for me it's a big deal.

Ed 00:33:28 If I get down to a party that's like, oh my God, I'm, I'm a I'm a traveler. I went and I went like two hours away.

Greg 00:33:34 Gave me an ordered pad Thai.

Ed 00:33:36 That's right. And I ordered pad Thai. That's right. So anyway, off the beaten path, highly recommended. People don't talk about it enough. It's underrated. maybe not for a first time tourist, but you you repeat tourists out there stop going to the same places over and over again and go somewhere different.

Greg 00:33:56 I dig, I dig, I like it. Good one. That's a good one. Yeah, well, that's our list. And, let us know whether you disagree or agree. You hear me?

Ed 00:34:03 So, as we mentioned at the beginning, the show, we'd like to say thank you to Peter Holmes for letting us his support at the show shout out level. Greg, what did you find out about Peter?

Greg 00:34:13 Well, I exchanged a couple of emails back and forth with Peter, and he seems like a lovely guy.

Greg 00:34:18 He's got quite an interesting story. And check this out. He says I'm from England, but I grew up in the Netherlands. I first arrived in Thailand in 1995 with a Tefal certificate and a plan to travel around the world teaching English. Yeah. Big dreams. We all had those big dreams when we first got here, didn't we? Sure. Chiang Mai was to be the first stop, followed by Japan and South America. I ended up teaching in Shanghai for one year and then Bangkok for three years. So he got sucked in. Bangkok had him then. That's right. I then went back to the Netherlands to do an MBA in hotel management. Planning to come back and be a hotel manager. All right. Long story short, didn't quite work out that way. I ended up setting up a business in 2003, which I am still running today. A commercial investigation company and law office called Orion Investigations, offering services such as intellectual property protection, due diligence, employment screening, corporate fraud and surveillance.

Greg 00:35:07 How's that? Yeah, that's a that's a that's a zag when he should have zagged. Like, talk about a career change.

Ed 00:35:12 Sounds like you should be writing Bangkok detective novels.

Greg 00:35:15 That's right, that's right. I wrote a story years ago for The Big Chill, where I'm about a detective agency here, and I tried trailing two guys. Like, I picked two guys at random on the Skytrain. Yeah, really? Just. Yeah, just to write about it. I picked two guys at random on the Skytrain, and I tried to follow them without them noticing they were being followed. I'm sure it's really hard, man. It's a skill. Like, they didn't notice me, but I was. I was worn out.

Ed 00:35:39 You're kind of hard not to notice it.

Greg 00:35:41 Yeah, that's kind of working against me. Anyway, Peter said, he. Check this out. He said I applied for Thai nationality in 2020, hoping for a call from the Ministry of Interior for the final steps in the process sometime this year.

Greg 00:35:52 So fingers crossed.

Ed 00:35:53 Cool, cool. Good luck.

Greg 00:35:54 I was going to list my favorite things about living in Bangkok, but strangely, I can't think of any. I guess it's just the overall experience. There you go. I'm with you, brother. I feel the same way.

Ed 00:36:02 The beautiful chaos of Bangkok.

Greg 00:36:04 That's right. Well, thanks for the support, Peter. That's really cool. And if I ever need some intellectual property protection or someone followed. If I think Ed's cheating on me with another podcaster, I'll give you a call.

Ed 00:36:15 All right. Thank you. Peter. A final thanks to all of 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 or Bangkok podcast on social media, Bangkok Podcast on the web or simply Bangkok Podcast at gmail.com. We love hearing from our listeners and always reply to our messages.

Greg 00:36:44 Yeah we do. You can also listen to each episode on YouTube. You can send us a voicemail through our website and we'll feature on the show. Hit me up on blue Sky at VK. Greg. Thanks for listening, everyone, and we'll see you back here next week.