Culture

Dungeons & Dragons & Bangkok: An Alignment Cheat Sheet for the Whole City

Alert: This post is ultra-geeky. In my younger years, I used to play a bit of Dungeons & Dragons, the iconic role playing game with wizards and orcs and warriors and trolls and all that jazz. In the game, players can decide the ethical and moral makeup of their created characters, which guides their actions throughout the game. This is called a character alignment. These can be very good, very evil, or something in between. In fact, there are nine official alignments in the D&D universe, and I got to wondering – how would Bangkok’s disparate elements […]

Greg2021-10-11T09:30:42+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Pop Culture|9 Comments

Expat Survey: When Did You Realize Thailand was Home?

On July 25, 2014, I celebrated my 13th anniversary in Thailand. Not too bad considering I originally came here for a 4 month vacation. By the time I passed the ten year threshold, I was solidly comfortable with my life in Thailand, and I wrote a post about what it felt like. But as I reflected on 13 years, I started wondering when, exactly, Thailand went from being “the place I’m living right now” to “the place that I call home.” […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:48+00:00Asia, Culture, Thailand, Travel|0 Comments

Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River: The Dividing Line of Cool

Bangkok is a huge city, but most of its expat community is centered around a few notable areas – Sukhumvit, Silom, Sathorn, Ari, and a few other small burghs. It’s no coincidence that most of the hotels, restaurants, and nightlife is located here too. What some people overlook is that every single one of these areas is on the east side of the Chao Phraya River, which roughly bisects Bangkok – but what about the west side? […]

Greg2016-11-21T04:30:54+00:00Bangkok, Culture|6 Comments

Meanwhile, in Bangkok: Those Are Some Hairy Legs, Ma’am

I don’t think there’s any way I can write this without sounding slightly sexist, but I’m going to throw it out there anyway for discussion. It’s probably more of a cultural issue, come to think of it, but let me pose a query: do you think women should shave their legs? It’s an open-ended one, for sure, and one’s answer will probably take on shades of culture, femininity, pride, sexual politics and even religion, depending on who answers. Be that as it may – the culture I grew up in was one where a woman with hairy legs […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:55+00:00Asia, Bangkok, Culture, Meanwhile in Bangkok...|15 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

Can Thais Laugh at Themselves?

Want to hear my favorite Canadian joke? Here it is: Two Canadians, let's call them Bob and Doug, are snowed in and bored. Bob says, "I'm bored, eh. Want to play a game?" "Doug says, "Sure, why not - how about 20 questions? I'll go first." So Doug thinks of something that Bob couldn't possible guess - moose cock. Bob says, "Okay, animal, vegetable or mineral...is it animal?" Ummm, yes it is." "Is it bigger than a bread box?" "No, smaller than a bread box." "Is it something you can eat?" "Hahaha, well, yes, I guess you could eat it if you had no other choice." "Is it moose cock?" (Pause for laughter) Okay, maybe it's not a great joke, but I like it for its pure stupidity, and it goes to show something interesting: us Canadians love making fun of ourselves. I was thinking about this over the past few days when a story a friend wrote blew up online, showing that Thais most definitely do not like people - even Thais - poking fun at Thailand.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:02+00:00Comedy, Culture, Pop Culture, Video, Web Media|0 Comments

The Sound of Culture in a Noisy City

Bangkok's noise is legendary, from the constant growl of traffic, to the bleating of 'pretty girls' selling the latest whitening cream, to outdoor speakers turned up to 11. It's often hard to find a peaceful corner - a fact that Not the Nation parodied so well - and when you do, you cherish it. It's even nicer when that peaceful corner is filled with lovely, soft classical music. I was lucky enough to attend an event recently that was just that, and even luckier to hang out with the talented musicans that performed. Surprisingly, they told me that these types of events were more common that I thought - you just have to know where to look.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:02+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Music|0 Comments

On Myth and Superstition in Thailand

If you've spent any amount of time in Thailand, you'll be familiar with the the fact that most Thais - young or old - put a whole lot of faith in superstition, myth, and legend. From ghosts to fortune tellers to old wives' tales of the tallest order, you will find that belief in these things is as ingrained in the culture as mango and sticky rice. Now, I'm of the mind that one should live and let live and mind your own business. If someone wants to make offerings of Snickers bars to the spirit inside their great-grandfather's favorite pencil, who am I to argue? But for those of us who tend to favor the side of hard evidence, it can be at times frustrating, amusing, and confusing. Obviously, superstition and myth aren't just specific to Thailand - every country has its rituals and beliefs - but in Asia it does seem to be less a personal belief as it is a cultural norm.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:12+00:00Asia, Culture, Education, Thailand|0 Comments

Losing the Christmas Spirit in Thailand

Christmas was always my favorite time of year in Canada for all the cheesiest and most clichéd reasons: walks in the snow, hot chocolate in front of roaring fireplaces, carols, time with family, and the general feeling of good cheer that goes along with the whole thing. Also, eggnog and free swag. But as I approach my tenth Christmas in Thailand, I have realized that – somewhat sadly, I admit – I have lost almost all of my emotional connections to this time of year. Now, instead of looking forward to the holiday season, all I do is join the growing chorus of groans when I start to see Christmas trees dotted throughout the city. Of course, whenever anyone says anything anti-Christmas, they’re labeled a Grinch or a Scrooge, but let me explain.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:13+00:00Asia, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Shopping, Thailand|0 Comments

Listening to the Universe When Travel Goes Bad

Recently, a friend of mine who was visiting for my (now postponed) wedding had his grand travel plans derailed in a rather spectacular way. B, as I will call him, had planned to stay for a month in Thailand, with a side trip to India. I’ll detail his travel derailment below, but it got me thinking – when you're traveling, is there a point where you get so much bad luck that you just give up and cancel? It’s a relevant question because travel is not, as the TV shows would have you believe, a seamless, stress-free experience. And as an expat in Bangkok you meet a lot of travelers – from first-timers to round-the-worlders to full-time travel experts. To get a bit of perspective, I asked B a bit about his attitude during the whole thing, as well as a few of my professional traveler friends to see what they had to say about how much fate dictates their next move and how they deal when they just can't seem to catch a break.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:13+00:00Culture, Health, Thailand, Travel|4 Comments