The Bangkok Podcast

Another fascinating history episode, this time looking into a little-known event in World War 1 that saw Thailand - er, Siam - occupying a small part of Germany! Greg sets the stage by reviewing the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the chain reaction of alliances that triggered the global conflict. Next, Ed brings up how this localized event snowballed into a world war and explains that Siam - typically pragmatic - initially remained neutral because it had close trade ties with Germany while being bordered by British and French empires. Ed notes that Siam eventually joined the Allied side to gain diplomatic leverage against unequal European treaties. Greg then details the regional territorial losses and concessions Siam had suffered to France and Britain prior to declaring war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. After seizing German assets locally, Siam dispatched an expeditionary force to Europe to serve under French command. Although they earned a French award for bravery under artillery fire and lost soldiers to illness, they faced racism and marginalization from French officers. To ease these diplomatic tensions after the armistice, France assigned Siamese troops to temporarily occupy a small German town. Greg and Ed conclude the topic by reflecting on how this brief occupation allowed Siam to join the League of Nations. See the photos below, including Thai aviators, photos from the war, the flag used by the expeditionary unit, and the memorial near Sanam Luang today.

Greg begins by explaining that a trip to the Chonburi Buffalo Festival got him thinking about the strange and special place animals hold in Thai culture, what with an entire festival built around an animal whose name is often used as an insult. The hosts agree to skip obvious examples like elephants and monkeys and dive right in with the water buffalo, once the engine of the rice economy. Ed points out an urban and rural divide, since the buffalo is revered in the countryside while Bangkokians use the word khwai as an insult. Comparisons to North American bison lead Greg into a tangent about Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Alberta. It's a real place, look it up. Next, Greg turns to the house gecko, or jing jok, whose chirping as you leave home is taken as a warning, and Ed confirms his students still believe this. They then discuss the larger tokay, which appears in lullabies threatening restless children with having their livers eaten, prompting Ed to recall a girlfriend teasing her daughter that foreigners eat children's livers. The hosts go on to fighting roosters and a legend linking them to King Naresuan, then the Siamese cat and the lucky black cat, and the Siamese fighting fish, which reached Western science as a gift from King Rama III. Ed then raises the water monitor, whose Thai name is a serious insult. Finally, Greg introduces mythical creatures, including the naga, a legged look-alike often confused with it, and the Garuda, Thailand's national emblem.

Greg interviews old friend of the podcast Rikker Dockum, Thai language expert extraordinaire about the Thai Royal Society, an organization dedicated to overseeing, promoting and regulating the Thai language. Rikker begins by explaining that he actually wrote his undergraduate thesis on the Society more than 20 years ago, so he's a longstanding follower of their work. He notes that it originally modelled itself after the French Academy, which, among other things, develops French words for English equivalents. For instance, Greg brings up the issue of the word 'computer,' which is typically spoken in Thai as 'com-pu-TER,' even though the Institute has specified a true Thai word for the computer. Rikker goes through the etymology of the word, but Greg asks whether the work of the Institute is even necessary if people don't adopt the words they come up with. Rikker defends the use of public funds for work codifying 'official' Thai, noting that were it left to the private marketplace, the work would never get done. The old friends continue their conversation about the Institute, emphasizing the need for such an organization for a language like Thai, which is vital to the history and culture of Thailand, but plays little role outside the country. Very few languages in the world are so popularly dominant that their continued preservation is assured, and unfortunately, Thai language is not one of them. Don't forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. And we'll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

Bangkok has produced roughly nine billion stories about food. Street food. Michelin food. Hidden food. Grandma's-secret-recipe food. Food you absolutely must eat before you die, leave town, or apparently lose all credibility as a human being. But what if you live here and you just don't feel like Thai food tonight? Greg and Ed wander off the usual culinary path to talk about what long-term expats actually eat after twenty-five years in Bangkok, once the honeymoon period with pad kra pao has settled into something closer to a very comfortable marriage. Greg reckons about half his diet is still Thai. Ed eats it even more often, although these days fried rice and pad see ew barely register as "Thai food" to him at all. They're just dinner. Which means the real treats are often somewhere else. Burmese tea leaf salad from a tiny place near the office. Lebanese food around Sukhumvit Soi 3/1. Japanese ramen and sushi hidden in plain sight. Italian food with a faint whiff of Cleveland nostalgia. And, inevitably, Indian food from the kind of restaurant where the lighting is questionable, the furniture has seen things, and the meal turns out to be spectacular. They also admit an inconvenient truth: even in one of the best eating cities on Earth, it's remarkably easy to become boring. Same restaurants. Same dishes. Same order. Sometimes the only thing standing between you and a brilliant new meal is a friend saying, "Trust me, just come." Because Bangkok's secret weapon may not be Thai food at all. It may be that this city can feed almost any craving, from almost anywhere, often down a soi you've walked past a hundred times without noticing.

After visiting a rooftop bar with one of the most spectacular views in Bangkok, the boys discuss what the evolution and growth of the sky-high drinking/photo establishments says about the evolution and growth of Bangkok itself. Greg begins by framing rooftop bars as a barometer of Bangkok's health, since they require investment, density, tourism, and confidence, and he notes that today's bars compete over who can claim the most dramatic view. Ed clarifies that the two hosts are jeans and t-shirt guys who care about views rather than trendiness. He recalls that when they first arrived, Sirocco at State Tower, made famous by The Hangover Part II, was nearly the only notable option, whereas Bangkok now ranks alongside New York and Dubai as a top rooftop city. Next, Greg describes a recent work evening at Le Du Kaan atop The Empire on Sathorn. He was struck that a bar set well back from the river could offer such a sweeping view, looking across at Mahanakhon at sunset, and that Baiyoke Tower, once the city's must-visit landmark, now looked small and distant. The hosts agree its neighborhood seems frozen in time, and Greg adds that even Moon Bar at the Banyan Tree is renovating to keep up with the competition. Ed then offers his photography advice. He recommends arriving well before sunset, framing the snaking bends of the Chao Phraya, seeking out Bangkok's spectacular cloud formations, and contrasting modern towers with temples like Wat Arun or older Chinese and European buildings. Greg shares a favorite shot of a small temple with State Tower looming behind it. Finally, the hosts discuss the abandoned Ghost Tower and the old trend of sneaking inside to take pictures.