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5 Surefire Ways to Get Punched in the Face in Thailand

Thailand’s oft-hapless Tourism Authority has always done a good job of pushing Thailand as ‘The Land of Smiles’. The problem with this, of course, is that anyone who reads a few paragraphs of sanitized TAT-approved copy arrives in Thailand thinking that everyone is running around with grins so big that their heads are splitting open. Of course this is not the case – Thailand has jerks and thugs just like any country, and the ‘Thai Smile’ can often be nothing more than a mask for some serious emotional distress. With this in mind, be wary of what you do and say, because while Thais certainly love to smile, they aren’t shy about giving someone his comeuppance, if they deserve it.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:32+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Politics, Thailand|0 Comments

How Expat Life Changes Your Perceptions of ‘Normal’

From a sociologist’s point of view, traveling to (and living in) a strange culture is akin to taking off your clothes and jumping butt-nekkid into a cold mountain lake. It strips away any notion of comfort that you may have had and gives you a new perspective on yourself, your surroundings, and the world you inhabit. Thailand certainly has this effect on one as well, as I expect living in or visiting most any country would, but in some very interesting ways. There are many short-term changes - things that most people recognize during their first week, month or year - but there are also a surprising amount of long-term changes that sneak up on you.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:32+00:00Asia, Bangkok, Culture, Politics, Thailand|0 Comments

A Tragedy in Bangkok, and the Opportunities it Brings

As I mentioned in my previous post about the red shirts, I usually avoid writing about politics for two reasons: 1) the situations often evolve too quickly for my sporadic man-child comments to be of any use, and 2), I'll be the first to admit it - I'm not so smrt in the politics department. However, I am affected by what's going on, and it has serious implications for the future of Thailand. So, instead of adding to the flood of theories of what happened and opinions on what will happen next, I thought I'd just put out a few thoughts on how a regular dude feels all caught up in what's going on.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:33+00:00Bangkok, Current Events, History, Politics|0 Comments

Some Thoughts on the Red Shirts

There are a few things I generally try to avoid writing about on my blog, and politics is one of them. Part of it is due to the fact that I'm too busy to write regularly about such topical and quickly-evolving subjects, but mostly it's because there are other bloggers out there who speak much more eloquently on the whole shebang than I ever could. However, as I do often have an opinion or two, I thought I'd put up some pictures and write a short bit about the ongoing red shirt protest in Bangkok and how I feel about the whole mess.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:33+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Current Events, Politics, Thailand|0 Comments

ExciTED, MotivaTED, ExhausTED: Anatomy of a TEDx Conference

Up until about 6 months ago, I only had a few basic tatters of information about TED Talks. I knew it was an annual conference, or... something. I'd seen a few talks on the website and thought it was an interesting concept, but it was only when I was invited to help organize Thailand's first TEDx event, TEDxBKK (the 'x' stands for an independently organized TED event under the main TED umbrella), did I truly get an understanding of what a powerful, important and tremendously enjoyable event they can be. The big day was February 13, 2010, and it went of superbly, thanks to a great team that really personified what TED is all about. Another reason I got a backstage view of the whole thing? I was asked to be the host.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:34+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Movies, Music, Politics, Pop Culture, Technology, Thailand, Web Media|0 Comments

Why Does Thailand Keep Tripping Itself Up?

scale Before I get started on this little rant, let me assure you - as I have before - that I dearly love living in Thailand and revel in absorbing the vivacious mix of wonderful and awful, inspiring and depressing, beauty and ugliness that it offers. The people are great, the landscape is beautiful, the quality of life is superb, the history is dense and the food kicks ass. But I read something recently that got me thinking that it will be a long, hard slog if Thailand ever wants to reach its full potential. No matter how hard it strains to be the great force it could be, there's one thing that the effort always trips on - greed.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:44+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Politics, Thailand|0 Comments

Self-Censorship in Thailand

zip2 Free speech has the ability to make you behave in much the same way that a child does after a bowl of sugar-coated Corn Flakes - once you've tasted it, going back to how you had it before is a kick in the head. Be it a rant against The Man or a punch-bowl full of sugary goodness, it feels good to exercise our freedom to speak and/or eat. (It's in the Constitution, I checked). So it was interesting a while back when something happened and I thought to myself, "I should put this on my blog" but then decided against it. But the thing that stuck in my craw was the reason I decided against it.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:46+00:00Asia, Culture, Politics, Print Media, Technology, Thailand, Web Media|0 Comments

Thoughts on Piracy in Thailand

thumb1 No, not the type where heavily armed Somolian teenagers try to board 330-foot long oil tankers from an inflatable dinghy with a cake-mixer motor. Rather, I'm talking about the type where you can buy fake name brand stuff for really cheap! Everyone knows that Thailand is one of the best countries to buy worst offenders when it comes to selling fake stuff. Thailand has recently seen a crackdown on illegal goods vendors, ramped up as a direct result of a United States Trade Representative report saying, essentially, Thailand sells pirated goods, so they're bad. Here's my thoughts on piracy in Thailand...

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:47+00:00Bangkok, Politics, Pop Culture, Technology|0 Comments

Are the Bangkok Protests Really as Bad as They Say?

I generally try and stay away from writing about Thailand's constantly shifting, often ridiculous and usually baffling politics. This is due to the fact that I'm admittedly kind of dense when it comes to politics; I see them as I see art - I know what I like and don't like, but as for the theories on origin or dissection of ideology, I really have no idea. I find that, generally speaking, politicians can't be trusted and money talks, and that's all you need to know. The ongoing protests in Bangkok are definitely double-plus un-good and have been covered quite well, but I've seen some things in the news that kind of shocked me which I wanted to extrapolate on.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:53+00:00Bangkok, Current Events, Politics|0 Comments

On Politics and Extra-terrestrials

Well, even though there have been billions of words written around the world about the campaign that Barack Obama just won, I thought I'd put my two cents forward because, well, this is my blog and that's what blogs are for. In a word - elated. That's what I feel. I don't believe I'm alone when I say that 'catastrophic' is too small a word to describe the train wreck that was George W. Bush, but now, finally, we can start to see the light. I'm not saying Obama will save the world, the country or even fix the economy or lower taxes; but he's certainly the best chance we have to start heading in the right direction. But there's one thing bothering me...

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:53+00:00Current Events, Politics|0 Comments