Greg to Differ

Aung San Suu Kyi Wins

2012-05-29T15:55:38Z

It was back in 2007 that I started blogging. Part of it was that I figured my demented genius was simply too awesome not to be shared, but it was mostly because I liked saying "I have a blog." Those early days were full of mistakes and wobbles with my writing - when I look back it's quite coarse and unpolished, but I've left it alone because, well, it is what it is. At any rate, my first post was on November 9, 2007 and my first subject was one that I'm very happy to be writing about again tonight in this short post - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. That old post was about the failed protests and yet another crushed bid for democracy in which ASSK (as I'll call her) could only watch from behind her gates. But happily, tonight, for the first time in 24 years, ASSK has left Burma and landed in Bangkok.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok...Air-Conditioned Dog

2012-05-11T15:25:57Z

This might seem a bit goofy and probably dirty, but one of the first things I noticed when I moved to Thailand was that dogs all had huge, swinging balls. I'm not trying to be gross, I'm serious - think about it: almost every dog you see back home is neutered. But not in Bangkok - they're swingin' around in all their glory. This, of course, leads to a larger stray dog population and - much like us humans - if they want to prosper in a city this weird and harsh, they have to develop some serious street smarts and survival skills. Which is why I took a photograph of this dog.

A Visit to Wat Paknam

2012-04-28T07:53:53Z

There are plenty of temples (wats) spread around Bangkok, and after a while they just kind of blend into the background like Fred Flinstone running past the same house over and over again. It's a shame, really, because although most of them look the same from the outside, each one has its own unique story and history. I've only explored a small handfully in any detail myself, most notably Wat Traimit, as I used to live close by, and Wat Ratchabophit on an excursion with Siam Society several years ago, so I was happy to accept an invitataiton from my venerable buddy Phra Pandit to visit him at his temple, Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen (aka Wat Paknam), for lunch and a tour.

Sometimes You Just Feel Helpless in Thailand

2012-04-17T15:50:15Z

Living in Bangkok is such a dichotomous existence. On one hand, your street smarts, social acumen, and moral judgement get tested and honed to such a razor's edge that any existence you had back home seems soft and closeted in comparison. But on the other hand, parts of your life become black holes as certain skills get pushed so far into the background that you wake up one day and realize that you don't know how to do simple tasks anymore. I was thinking of this the other day as I sat in the back of a taxi when the realization hit me: "I have no idea where I am."

In Defense of Titanic

2012-04-06T01:19:55Z

A bit of a departure from Bangkok-specific things, but Titanic opened here this week, and since I'm a movie nerd, I have a few things to say. The term ‘backlash’ has been the subject of many sociology studies. Wikipedia defines it as “a popular negative reaction to something which has gained popularity, prominence, or influence, [usually] a reflection of a collective resentment of that thing's ubiquity in culture and media.” You see it a lot in popular culture – when a band ‘sells out’ or someone becomes famous overnight. You see it in movies too, and none more than Titanic, which has had an undue amount of scorn directed at it since its release 15 years ago. I was there on December 19, 1997, opening night at Westhills Cinemas in Calgary. When the lights came up, the only thing you could hear was sniffing and snorting as women dabbed their eyes and men pretended they weren’t verklempt. But I’m here to say it publicly and out loud and I don’t care what anyone thinks: Titanic is a stunning, emotionally wrenching, technically masterful film that deserves every dollar it made and every award it won, and I got a fistfull of baht ready to see it again in 3D.

A Plastic Overload at 7-11

2012-03-29T16:58:57Z

If you've ever walked by any abandoned lots in most any big city in the world, you know that plastic has a habit of piling up and causing all kinds of ugly problems. Well, it's no different in Thailand and the biggest and most visible kid on the block in terms of where all this plastic comes from is the ubiquitous 7-11. Indeed, it's one of the long-running jokes here that whenever you go into one to buy a few little things, you come out with two bags, four straws of varying sizes, a handful of little plastic spoons, a bunch of stickers and a receipt, all for something that you bought with pocket change. I thought, as a retailing behemoth, surely they're aware of just how much they're contributing - and more importantly for a big company, how much they could save - if they weren't handing out so much damn plastic. To find out, I called and called and called, and finally got through to their Corporate Communications Division.

Greg to Differ in Lonely Planet

2012-03-11T16:42:58Z

When I first came to Thailand in 2001, Lonely Planet was the authority on travel. Their books dominated travel sections in book stores, their television shows were on my schedule every week, and their burgeoning Thorn Tree forum was the place to go for travel info. A lot has changed since then - both in the wide world as well as in the travel industry. The company was bought out by the BBC in 2007 and the internet and smartphones have revolutionized how info is digested by travelers, but LP is still a huge name in travel.

So I was very pleasantly surprised when my friend Richard Barrow gave me a heads up that Greg to Differ was mentioned in the latest version of the LP Thailand guide. Despite spelling the description of the site wrong (d'oh!), it's an honor to be mentioned, along with other great sites including Newley, 2Bangkok, Patrick Winn's Global Post blog, Austin Bush's excellent food photography blog, the awesome Not the Nation, and the perennial Stickman (wow, that dude must make a mint from banner ads).

Hey Thailand - Are You Ready for AEC? I Hope So

2012-03-07T09:32:47Z

Unless you're tied into the Thailand business community, it's easy to not have heard about the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community, or AEC. If you're not doing business here, it likely won't matter to you what it is, but if you are - or if you're interested in the shifting economic and social goings-on in Southeast Asia - you should definitely do a bit of reading on it. The only reason I know about it is because I work for a business magazine, and all indications are that if Thailand wants to stay competitive when the AEC goes into effect in 2015, it's got a lot of work to do.

A Quick Mobile Post

2012-02-21T04:35:07Z

After the insanity that was my wedding, a quick trip to Ko Samet for a few days' decompression was warranted. Here's a picture of the beach that I was just walking down. Relaxing, fun - my favorite island in Thailand.

A Few Thoughts on Thai Healthcare

2012-02-06T16:35:07Z

I've been away from Canada for so long now that I barely remember how the much-vaunted health care system works there anymore. Thankfully I've never needed a major operation, and any minor procedures I ever had done were just kind of...taken care of. Whenever I visited a doctor in Canada, I always trusted them 100%. Sure, you might get a second opinion, but you were always pretty sure that each doctor had your best interests in mind and that each one would narrow your ailment down to a fairly specific ballpark. But in Thailand, it sometimes takes a while to learn that things might not always be what they seem, and you have options as to the who, what, and where of your healthcare.