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Dating in Bangkok: Expat Women Share Their Stories - Part 1 [S7.E76] (Classic ReCast)

The Bangkok Podcast

Release Date: 06/24/2025

Second Opinions and Jedi Lies: Stories from Bangkok's Hospitals [S8.E5] (Classic ReCast) show art Second Opinions and Jedi Lies: Stories from Bangkok's Hospitals [S8.E5] (Classic ReCast)

The Bangkok Podcast

Sooner or later, we all spend some time in the hospital, so Greg and Ed riff on their myriad experiences in Bangkok hospitals over the years. But before we get into that, we should note - due to Thailand’s strict defamation laws, some of the places we talk about will remain nameless.  But with that out of the way, we can say that Thailand in general has pretty good medical care, and it is standard advice for travelers in neighboring countries to get over the border into Thailand if they have any medical problems. But, as Ed notes, Thailand does not have very good legal protections...

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When Jaded Expats Wrongly Predict Thai Failures [S8.E4] show art When Jaded Expats Wrongly Predict Thai Failures [S8.E4]

The Bangkok Podcast

Greg and Ed discuss something that is more common than many people think: being wrong about expecting some Thai government project or initiative to fail. It’s pretty easy, as expats often fall into the rut of cynicism about the Thai government sticking to a plan and actually getting stuff done, but the truth is, Thailand sometimes gets stuff right!  Greg begins by bringing up Benjakitti Forest Park. It replaced the Thai Tobacco Monopoly, which occupied prime real estate between Sukhumvit and Rama IV for many years. When Greg heard it was going to be made into a giant public park, he was...

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CRINGE: Tales of Trying to Fit in to Thai Culture & Failing Badly [S8.E3] show art CRINGE: Tales of Trying to Fit in to Thai Culture & Failing Badly [S8.E3]

The Bangkok Podcast

Greg and Ed discuss a few of the many ‘cringe’ moments they have experienced over the years in failing to fit into Thai culture or  ‘do the right thing’ according to Thai society.  Ed begins with the ‘classics,’ mistakes that probably most expats make, such as wai-ing a person younger than you are, accidentally pointing the bottom of your feet towards a statue of the Buddha, and improperly touching a Thai person’s head.  Greg follows with a more specific (and hilarious) story of buying a large cereal bowl only to have his Thai girlfriend reveal it to be a bowl...

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Justin Dunne on Bangkok's Red-Hot Culinary Scene [S8.E2] show art Justin Dunne on Bangkok's Red-Hot Culinary Scene [S8.E2]

The Bangkok Podcast

Greg interviews repeat guest Justin Dunne, who previously appeared on Season 6, Episode 24, discussing his cool side project ‘Bangkok Haunts.’ Justin’s main gig is to be a legend of the Food & Beverage scene in Bangkok, having been the GM of the epic Bed Supperclub back in the day, and many more bars and restaurants between then and now. Oh yeah, he’s also the head of F&B consultancy .  The guys begin by discussing Bangkok’s rise in status as a culinary capital. Justin contends there are many factors, not least of which is Bangkok’s ability to capture Michelin ratings,...

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Looking Back, Looking Forward: What's Next for S8 [S8.E1] show art Looking Back, Looking Forward: What's Next for S8 [S8.E1]

The Bangkok Podcast

Greg and Ed introduce Season 8 of the podcast first by looking back and all that has been achieved. Greg runs through some crazy stats, just a few of which are that there have been a total of 885 shows and more than 1.6 million (!) total streams or downloads. Insane!  Next, the guys check in with Season 1 co-host Tony Joh and frequent podcast guest Phra Phandit. Tony relates his journey first to Japan and then back to Canada, and his business of vlogging his solo motorcycle adventures. Luckily he’s doing great, and Greg and he shared some early podcast stories.  Phra Pandit then...

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Dating in Bangkok: Expat Women Share Their Stories - Part 1 [S7.E76] (Classic ReCast) show art Dating in Bangkok: Expat Women Share Their Stories - Part 1 [S7.E76] (Classic ReCast)

The Bangkok Podcast

Greg and Ed do a first for the the show, with a panel discussion with four guests! Why four? Well, everyone knows that cliche about Bangkok being a heaven for expat men, but we didn’t know much about expat women. It stands to reason that one woman can’t speak for all women, so we upped the game a bit. After some introductions, we get into the meat of the show, with a myriad of stories that show how complex, nuanced, and (depending on the person) important the issue is to a life well lived in the capital. Among many other things, the ladies discuss the differences between the attention they...

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Western Weddings vs Thai Weddings: Which is More Fun? [S7.E75] show art Western Weddings vs Thai Weddings: Which is More Fun? [S7.E75]

The Bangkok Podcast

Greg and Ed discuss a fascinating question: Are Thai weddings or American weddings more fun? The question was raised after Greg attended the wedding of friend of the podcast Daniel Fraser. As everyone knows, Dan is a legit expert on travel in Thailand, in addition to being a bit of a celebrity in the country due to his appearances in various TV shows and movies. Greg noted that the experience reminded him how much more fun Thai weddings are than Western weddings, leading Ed to raise his eyebrows a bit and raise a few objections. Ed admits that Thai weddings can be very interesting due to their...

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Thai Tourism: Is the Downward Trend Here to Stay? [S7.E74] show art Thai Tourism: Is the Downward Trend Here to Stay? [S7.E74]

The Bangkok Podcast

Greg and Ed discuss the recent troubling decrease in overall Thai tourism numbers. In general, since COVID, the Thai tourism industry has bounced back quite well, and projections were that 2025 numbers would exceed the pre-COVID peak of 39 million visitors. However, starting at the end of last year, numbers didn’t meet expectations, and since then the dip has become more severe. So what happened? The guys cycle through several different factors. First, the earthquake at the end of March certainly didn’t help matters, with many tourists canceling their trips for the Thai New Year in April....

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Stolen English: A Few Words That Thai Has Fully Thai-ified [S7.E73] show art Stolen English: A Few Words That Thai Has Fully Thai-ified [S7.E73]

The Bangkok Podcast

Greg and Ed tackle a frustrating aspect of learning Thai - borrowed English words that are pronounced according to the rules normally applied to native Thai words. Ed makes clear they are not just talking about accent or ‘prosody’ - the cadence of pronunciation - but actually specific changes to pronunciation that are part of the rules of the Thai language. Examples are the best teacher so the guys jump right in. Ed begins with the all-time classic of ‘check bin,’ based on the two English words ‘check’ and ‘bill.’ The only problem is that in Thai, when a word ends in the Thai...

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Making Thai Subtitles: Culture, Slang & Curse Words [S7.E72] (Classic ReCast) show art Making Thai Subtitles: Culture, Slang & Curse Words [S7.E72] (Classic ReCast)

The Bangkok Podcast

In this month's Classic Recast, Greg interviews Palm, a professional translator of English to Thai, but in a very specific context: subtitles for film and television. Palm begins by explaining that she literally learned English by being a couch potato and watching a lot of Western TV shows and movies, surviving by figuring out the subtitles word by word. This led naturally to an interest in doing it for a living, and lo and behold, her dream came to when she got a job translating for MTV Thailand. Eventually, this led to translating for a major video distribution company (which shall remain...

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More Episodes

Greg and Ed do a first for the the show, with a panel discussion with four guests! Why four? Well, everyone knows that cliche about Bangkok being a heaven for expat men, but we didn’t know much about expat women. It stands to reason that one woman can’t speak for all women, so we upped the game a bit.

After some introductions, we get into the meat of the show, with a myriad of stories that show how complex, nuanced, and (depending on the person) important the issue is to a life well lived in the capital.

Among many other things, the ladies discuss the differences between the attention they get back home and what they get in Bangkok, what it’s like to date Thai men (and women), the quality of farang men in Thailand, and a host of other issues.

There are also some hilarious(ly awful) Tinder stories, anecdotes about being approached on the street, issues that single moms have to deal with, discussion about western women who leave Thailand bitter and angry, and how Asian American women are treated in Thailand. Suffice it to say more than one can of worms are opened up in part one of a two-part mega interview.

As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.