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19 09, 2016

What do you do with satang coins?

Greg2016-12-05T15:06:01+00:00Financial, Thailand|8 Comments

As a Canadian, I grew up getting used to throwing away money. Okay, not real money - pennies. In Canada GST is added to everything, so if a price tag says $2, the actual price will be like $2.28 (in Thailand, if the price tag says 143 baht, it's 143 baht). But the pennies that accumulate in the transaction were the bane of many Canadians' existence, piling up, filling pockets and jars, and generally being nearly useless (until they discontinued them in 2013). But that was nothing compared to the Thai equivalent - the dreaded satang coin.

10 09, 2016

Meanwhile, in Bangkok: Elevator Phone

Greg2016-11-20T14:41:47+00:00Meanwhile in Bangkok...|0 Comments

A few days ago I realized I had a low-level eye infection. Nothing serious, but I clearly needed to get my eyes checked out, so I headed to the hospital. In Canada, you only go to the hospital when you have a serious problem because there are little clinics of all types all over the place, but in Thailand, you just generally go to the hospital for any ol' thing.

10 08, 2016

A Bangkok Field Trip: The Search for Captain Bush’s Grave

Greg2016-11-20T14:41:46+00:00Asia, Bangkok, History, Religion, Thailand|7 Comments

The Search for Captain Bush’s Grave started when my friend Andrew sent me an email asking if I knew anything about the old abandoned house that sat, forgotten and forlorn, across from the Sheraton Hotel. The house itself is gorgeous but decaying; it sits as if slumped in a beanbag chair, shutters falling off, paint peeling, bricks missing, weeds growing through every crevice. And the street that it sits on? Charoen Krung soi 30 – aka, Soi Captain Bush. […]

23 07, 2016

My Childhood in Canada vs. My Son’s Childhood in Thailand

Greg2016-11-20T14:41:28+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Kids, Thailand, Travel|12 Comments

After living over 35% of my life in Thailand, I’m always reminded on my all-too-infrequent trips back to Canada how much I took for granted growing up. When I was a kid, I hated the town I lived in – “Ugh, I can’t wait to get out of this place!” we all used to say, like we were singing the chorus of a Springsteen song. But looking back with ~~grace and~~ age, it’s clear to me how idyllic my childhood really was – miles of green grass, flat sidewalks, bike lanes, and baseball diamonds. The bank tellers knew me […]

9 06, 2016

You’ve Probably Bought Fake CDs But Have You Ever Eaten Counterfeit Food?

Greg2016-11-20T14:40:53+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Food, Health, Thailand|2 Comments

I’ll be the first to admit that in the past, from time to time, I have bought counterfeit things. You know, in moments of extreme weakness. Taken a shortcut to save a few bucks. Usually it was for things that were pretty low profile – DVDs (back when people still bought those), shoes, sunglasses, and the like. But as I got older, I started to appreciate that, generally, you get what you pay for. When it’s a DVD it’s not a huge deal, but when you start to realize that the world of counterfeits extends to more serious […]

2 05, 2016

The First Time I “Got” a Thai Inside Joke

Greg2017-03-01T07:29:53+00:00Culture, Language, Pop Culture, Thailand|1 Comment

The first time I ever “got” a Thai inside joke was a pretty big deal for me. Most foreigners live here with a more-or-less vague understanding of the behind the scenes to-and-fro that goes on, but when it comes to the double entendres and the wordplay, most of us are in the dark.

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31 03, 2016

Dealing With Cultural Differences – Example 1: The Two Ronnies

Greg2016-11-20T14:52:16+00:00Comedy, Culture, Pop Culture|0 Comments

Obviously when you try to fit in to a new culture, there are some obstacles that will just not be overcome no matter how hard you try. This is one of the reasons that it’s so important to have friends from similar backgrounds, because completely severing the connection to your own culture can, I imagine, have some ugly fallout. This little bit of expatriate source code came up for me tonight when, feeling sad about the death of Ronnie Corbett, I pulled up of one my all-time favorite sketches from his legendary show The Two Ronnies and […]

23 03, 2016

A Bit of Reverse Culture Shock on a Visit to the Motherland

Greg2016-11-20T14:57:14+00:00Culture, Travel|1 Comment

A few months ago I headed back to Canada after nearly 9 years without a visit. It was a trip I’d been looking forward to for a long time for obvious reasons (friends, family, Christmas, a nice change from the constant Thai heat), but also one that I was a bit nervous about. I don’t think I’ll ever move back permanently. I like to think it’s always a backup option – but what if this trip reveals once and for all how difficult it would be for me to fit back in to Canadian society and culture? I was definitely […]

17 03, 2016

Welcome to the new Greg to Differ

Greg2016-11-20T14:55:59+00:00Bangkok, Technology|0 Comments

Hey! If you’re reading this, you’re on the brand new design of my lil’ website. I put no small amount of work into it, so I hope you like it. It might not seem like much, but us bloggers can get quite proud and obsessed with our websites. I don’t think it’s misguided effort, either, especially in the 21st century. If you have Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, or any type of online presence, you are, essentially, a brand, and brands need to be taken care of. […]

8 12, 2015

The One Constant About Having Kids in Thailand

Greg2016-11-20T14:55:05+00:00Asia, Bangkok, Culture, Kids, Thailand|13 Comments

If you haven’t picked up on it during previous posts, I’m the proud father of a beautiful, hilarious, mischievous, lovely little boy who just turned 1. I’ve written pages and pages privately about the experience thus far, but very little publicly. I wanted to reflect on one element of being a parent in Thailand that has never stopped making me laugh and/or frown in equal measure, and that is how Thais – most of the time females – react to kids. […]