Greg, Author at Greg to Differ

Finally, a (Mostly) Accurate Map of Bangkok’s Transit Future

Over the past few years I’ve become quite interested in what lies behind the scenes in Bangkok, most especially the plans for the city’s transit system. The existing train routes are embarrassingly inadequate for a city the size of Bangkok, but there are big plans in place. For years now I’ve been trying off and on to find a good map that lays it all out in a realistic fashion, but it’s been difficult. So, I decided to make my own damn map on Google Maps based on a combination of maps, diagrams, and websites across the web.

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Greg2018-03-23T03:22:04+00:00Bangkok, Transport|90 Comments

Meanwhile in Bangkok: Harry Potter Bureaucracy

I’ll never forget the first time I walked into a Thai government office. It was the tax office on Sukhumvit 11, and I was told to go upstairs to some processing room. I was shocked when it was nothing more than bureaucratic peons sitting amid shoulder-high piles of foolscap paper, bound by plastic rope into thick-ass bundles. There were hundreds of them (piles of paper – there were only a dozen or so peons) and I wondered how the hell anyone managed to recover any data without searching through a mountain of paper first. […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:56+00:00Meanwhile in Bangkok...|2 Comments

A Cultural Wall at Toys R Us

I find it really interesting that even after all these years in Bangkok, I can still be completely caught off guard when it comes to the nuances and differences between Thai culture and my own. After 12 years I like to think that I understand at least a good chunk of how Thailand works, and if not, at least be experienced enough to anticipate a change here and there, but everyone once in a while, I’ll have the wool pulled over my eyes and end up thinking, “Of course it’s like that, you idiot!” This recently happened to me when […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:56+00:00Asia, Culture, History, Pop Culture|0 Comments

Do You Live More Than 2km From a Bangkok Rail Route?

When visiting friends ask me how Bangkok is laid out and what the best way to get around is, I tell them one thing: buy cards for the BTS (skytrain) and MRT (subway), fill ’em with cash, and you’re golden. Bangkok is a city that – at least since the BTS opened in 1999 – has expanded, grown and evolved very much in line with the routes that the electric trains take, as many cities do. But I also usually tell my friends that, unless they want to be particularly adventurous in Bangkok, almost everything they could need […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:57+00:00Bangkok, Transport|0 Comments

Red Cliff Coffee: The Best Brew in Thailand?

When I tell people that I’ve never once tried a cigarette or a hit of weed or any type of drug, I’m often met with disbelief. That’s fine by me, I’m not saying it to impress anyone, it’s just the truth. But there’s one drug that, in my adult life of late nights and early mornings, I simply need to get into my system, and that’s caffeine. I know, I’m a rockstar. Caffeine…hold me back. At any rate, over the past few years I’ve gone from a total coffee n00b to a huge fan, and while I can’t […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:57+00:00Food, Thailand|0 Comments

Tweeting from @Bangkoking

When Twitter started to gain popularity about 5 years ago I thought it was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard. Who can get a good idea across in 140 characters? Why do I care what one-line thoughts people have? But far be it from me to resist a trend, I eventually tried it out and immediately became a huge convert. Not only has it opened up an entirely new way of learning and communicating with everyone from my upstairs neighbor to my sister who lives in an area in Canada so remote even the Inuit think she’s nuts, […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:57+00:00Bangkok, Technology|0 Comments

Back From the Dead! A Note on the G2D Redesign

Well that was a long downtime. I guess it’s been almost 6 months now that this here blog has been just sitting there sadly neglected. Originally I was hoping it’d only be a month or two, but that got delayed by various things over and over again, and BAM…6 months had flown by. Kind of like me learning Thai or losing weight, but more digital-y. At any rate, G2D is back up with a new design, a new platform, a few new banners and a new appreciation for how much I don’t know about website design. It’s nothing […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:58+00:00Web Media|2 Comments

Meanwhile, in Bangkok: Put Your Ass

I happened to be strolling through the campus of Chulalongkorn University the other day, recalling the halcyon days of yore when I managed to completely avoid the traditional university experience and instead start working. At any rate, it really is a beautiful campus, with lots of trees, plenty of green space, and students in their black and white uniforms hustling to classes or lectures or...whatever it is that students do in Thailand. It seems to be a much different experience than we have in universities in Canada. It seems somehow from a more quaint time, where the students are less jaded and bitter - I half expeected to see pep rallies and cheerleaders. Anyway, as I was strolling I stopped to get some coffee and have a seat, and saw this sign on the bench.

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:58+00:00Meanwhile in Bangkok...|0 Comments

What’s On Thai Money?

I remember the first time I saw a baht. It was about two months before I came to Thailand and I happened to wander by an exchange booth. I'd never seen Thai money before, so I exchanged a few bucks and walked out with a fistfull of crumpled, green 20 baht notes, which was all they had in the shop. I didn't know who the guy was on the money, or what the weird squiggles meant, but it looked cool. It was actually the first foreign money I'd ever held outside of American dollars. Now, my fingers rifle through literally hundreds of baht a day (that's right - hundreds) but I rarely stop to think about what it's all about. So, one day I did; I got curious, sent out a few emails and looked at a few websites, and for no reason than a very niche curiosity, will explain below what exactly is presented on Thai baht.

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:58+00:00Thailand|5 Comments

Spending Time in a Salt Cave

Every so often my dear ol' wife will come across an online coupon for a meal or a movie or a store that we check out. This has gotten a lot more prevelant with the rise of Groupon and, especially in Thailand, Ensogo. She recently came across a deal on something called a salt cave - indeed, it's name is Salt Cave. Bangkok is a city with no lack of trendy, often goofy fads, fashions and manias, and I figured this was one of them. Go and sit in a room full of salt...sure, why not, it'll be a laugh. But I did a bit of research online and, whaddya know, it's an actual thing! So, putting my cynicism aside, we went to the Salt Cave to sit and breathe the salty air.

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:59+00:00Bangkok, Health|0 Comments

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