Greg questions Ed about his main job - teaching ‘American Studies’ to Thai college students. Effectively, Ed’s job and his side gig (the podcast) are opposites of each other, given that he is attempting to explain Thai society and culture to foreigners on the podcast.

Ed begins with America 101 - basic lessons about the U.S. that every Thai person should know, especially before traveling there. First, the U.S. is physically a VERY big country, but also quite diverse. The Northeast is quite different from the Midwest, which is in turn different from the South, which differs from the West Coast, etc. Hence, Ed notes that the U.S. is actually a difficult country to generalize about, and some of his students grapple with the concept. For instance, life in an urban city can be completely different from life in the suburbs or rural area, despite both being in the U.S. Second, the U.S. has a violent crime problem, and Thais should be very careful where and when they go somewhere, especially in cities. While the country overall is ‘safe’ in the general sense, that’s not true at all times and in all places. And last, health care in the U.S. is VERY expensive, and no one should travel there without health insurance. ‘Nuff said.

Greg then asks Ed about cultural lessons, and Ed notes that often American culture is best explained as the reverse of Thai culture. The U.S. is individualistic, while Thailand is group-oriented. The U.S. is legalistic and ‘low context’, while Thailand is ‘flexible’ about the law and ‘high context.’ And of course, Americans are more direct and engaging than Thais, who tend to be ‘shy’ and hang back, especially with strangers.

No culture is inherently ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than any other, but that doesn’t mean they are all the same. :)

Don’t forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. We also sometimes post on Facebook, you can contact us on LINE and of course, head to our website (www.bangkokpodcast.com) to find out probably more info than you need to know.

Greg and Ed discuss various aspects of Bangkok that they believe are either overrated or underrated. The guys start with things that they believe get too many props. Greg mentions the Grand Palace and the Damnoen Saduak floating market that tend to be too touristy and overcrowded, but that there are unsung superior alternatives where tourists could better spend their time. Ed counters with Thai customer service, which he credits for being genuinely warm but which he believes is often unprofessional, at least outside of five-star hotels.

Greg then brazenly brings up Pad Thai, which has never floated his boat regardless of its reputation. For Ed, he thinks Thai temples are overrated in general, at least beyond the main ones that everyone should go to at least once.

Greg then goes deep with a critique of the emphasis Thais place on ‘respect,’ especially for older people out of course. That’s probably a good topic for a whole show.

For underrated, the guys cover things such as various museums, some financial management options (that a lot of foreigners don’t know about), taxis, and Thailand outside of the main tourist areas. Listen in if you want all the inside info! :)

Don’t forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. We also sometimes post on Facebook, you can contact us on LINE and of course, head to our website (www.bangkokpodcast.com) to find out probably more info than you need to know.

Continuing the exploration of some of the unexpectedly progressive moves that Thailand makes from time to time, Greg interviews his friend Jacob, an American, and his husband Geng, a Thai, about their marriage in Thailand as two men and their efforts to build a family through surrogacy. The couple begins by relating how they met and began dating, and Jacob adds that even at that stage he was looking into becoming a single father through some type of surrogacy. Luckily Geng was on board, and they began researching different clinics worldwide. They settled on a clinic in Colombia that they felt was very professional and transparent.

With a baby (the genetic son of Jacob) on the way, they decided to make their relationship legal, but at that time, same-sex marriages were still unrecognized in Thailand. Hence, they chose an online marriage in the U.S. state of Nevada. Now legal, they were then able to take their Colombian-born son back to Thailand. While there were no problems actually entering Thailand, their son was only recognized as an American tourist, with no legal connection to Geng.

The guys then explain that they plan to repeat the process with a genetic child of Geng, so they eventually hope to have two children. The next step then will be having their marriage legalized in Thailand, and finally they hope to secure the legal status of their children.

Whew! Talk about pushing the boundaries of a ‘conservative Buddhist’ country.

Don’t forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. We also sometimes post on Facebook, you can contact us on LINE and of course, head to our website (www.bangkokpodcast.com) to find out probably more info than you need to know.