Thanks to a suggestion from a listener Greg and Ed discuss the fascinating topic of games that are common - if not unique - to Thailand. Both guys have some familiarity with some games played in public such as 'takraw,' but many of the others are part of this strange world called 'Thai culture' that the guys apparently don't actually know that well.

Greg begins with a children's game in which one child sings a song while counting by syllable on another child's hand. When the singer stops on a finger, that finger is taken out of the game. The child with the last finger in is the winner. Greg even plays a cute clip of a video of the game.

Next, Greg explains a Thai game very similar to the Western game of 'jacks,' which although relatively unplayed by children back home, still lives on in a Thai derivative.

The boys then go deep into the Thai version of chess, called makruk (หมากรุก), which utilizes the same board and pieces but with modifying moving rules for each piece. This game is a quite famous pastime of Thai motorcycle riders, who can often be seen playing the game on the side of the road while awaiting customers. It should be noted that Ed's friend - a noted chess lover - was broken by makruk, giving up in frustration after trying to tame the wild beast.

Greg continues with several more Thai games, from the crazy sport of takraw, which is kind of like soccer and volleyball mixed together with a wicker ball, to bizarre practices such as beetle fighting, popular in the Northeast, and a game where you throw seeds with your knees. We also check in with a friend of Greg's who owns Golden Goblin Games to hear about the role-playing side of things.

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Inspired by an unusually long commute, the boys decide to discuss a list of things - very specific things - that bother Greg while he drives his trusty silver Honda around Bangkok.

Greg begins by sharing his first major annoyance with Bangkok drivers, which is their complete disregard for pedestrian crosswalks, forcing people to sprint across the road. Next, he brings up the severe impatience at intersections, where drivers wedge themselves into perpendicular traffic even when there is no room, entirely blocking the flow. Following this, Greg expresses his frustration with luxury malls reserving premium parking spaces exclusively for 'supercars', a practice both hosts find incredibly elitist and ridiculous. After all, how do you define 'super'? Greg thinks his Honda is pretty super, but he bets the guard at Icon Siam will disagree.

The conversation then shifts to the tendency of local drivers to swing out into the second lane and make wide left turns. Greg admits he has actually started doing this himself as a defensive tactic against blind corners and weaving motorcycles. After that, he points out the dangerous and aggressive driving habits of delivery workers in heavily modified, caged pickup trucks.

The list continues - hazards lights at intersections, customized license plates, and finally the one rule to rule them all - if everyone actually followed the traffic laws in Bangkok, it would probably be way more dangerous.

Ed concludes by noting Greg has done an excellent job of explaining why he (Ed) rarely drives in Bangkok!

In this episode, Greg interviews legendary foreign correspondent Denis Gray about his memoir, Lost Horizons. Denis details his fascinating life story, beginning with his family's escape from communist Czechoslovakia and his father's subsequent intelligence work for the CIA. After graduating from Yale, Gray served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, an intense experience that inspired his transition into journalism with the Associated Press.

The next few decades saw Denis covering critical global conflicts, focusing heavily on the Indochina wars. He highlights the extreme challenges of reporting on the Khmer Rouge genocide from the Thai-Cambodian border, noting how a lack of visual media at the time left these historical atrocities largely forgotten by the wider world.

Greg and Ed then discuss the immense psychological weight of Gray's memories. Ed expresses a mix of awe and relief, admitting he is glad he never had to face such immense dangers himself. Ultimately, both hosts agree that Gray's career represents a rare, vanishing breed of war correspondence, emphasizing the vital importance of preserving these profound, first-hand historical accounts.

For a more visual discussion, see a video of Dennis' book launch and Q&A at the Foreign Correspondent's Club here in Bangkok.

With Ed unavailable this week, Greg welcomes his friend John as co-host to talk about storytelling. Specifically, the difference between how westerners tell stories, and how Thais tell stories. This is especially apropos to John, as he is the creator of Bangkok Stories, an event that, unsurprisingly, showcases the talents of locals who tell tales for an audience.

The discussion is at turns funny, insightful and sometimes dark, as Greg and John analyze storytelling styles to see what they tell us about the cultures behind them. Ultimately, as Thai culture is not a "look at me" one, this informs how eager most Thais are at getting up in front of strangers to talk. Add to this the concept of losing face and/or displeasing family members and those perceived of being of a higher status, and you have a complex mix of inspirations and motivations.

Greg sees a parallel in how difficult it is for him and Ed to find Thai guests to come on the show. Obviously English-language proficiency is a big barrier, but they have asked many over the years who are reluctant in case they say something disagreeable and lose face, which could bring shame on them, their family - or worse - their boss.

This eventually leads into a discussion of the ongoing Psi-Scott drama, which sees the taboo against shaming families with public accusations taken to a disturbing extreme.

When it comes to characters, Bangkok has them in droves - people who have been places, eaten things, talked to people, and lived adventures that would make your mother put her hand to her mouth and proclaim, "Oh my" with a frightened little squeak. On this episode of the Bangkok Podcast we're happy to have one of these epic characters on the show with us - Mr Alan Platt, who, as it happens, has just released a book about his adventures entitled Foreign Fool.

Now I know what you're thinking, and it's the same thing we think when we hear self-published book by a farang in Bangkok, and that is, "Oh, yes, another one for the dusty back section of Asia Books, along with all the stories about hard-boiled detectives, heart-of-gold prostitutes, and love gone bad." But no - that's not what this book is about at all. In fact, take it from me (Greg), who has read the book - this is one hell of a fun read, and is actually - get this - really well written. From Saigon to Bangkok to Panama to London to Honolulu, Foreign Fool tells of, as Alan puts it, the bumbling misadventures of a doofus. I'll just let the first two paragraphs of the first chapter say it themselves:

In Saigon, many years after the war was over, long after the city was declared safe for tourists and when even the hookers were becoming almost discreet, I was kidnapped. That does sound a bit dramatic, I admit. Technically, it was more an abduction. But however one puts it, any mention of that sort of thing floods the mind with images of some poor guy being jumped by thugs, bundled into the trunk of a car and splattered across the tabloids with a screech of tires and the burning of rubber. None of that happened to me. I was kidnapped on a bicycle.

Alan discusses how he went from sunning his broke ass on a Los Angeles beach to the top of the New York ad world, how the book took shape, and a few of the stories - both in the book and not - that keep him looking ahead to the next trip. Buy Foreign Fool on Amazon.

The issue of Thai nominees has heated up in the past little while, with daily news stories about crackdowns, changing laws, and foreigners running scared (or just running).

The discussion begins with Ed outlining the basic framework of the Thai Foreign Business Act, explaining how it restricts foreigners from owning more than forty-nine percent of companies in certain restricted sectors. He details how this legal hurdle gave rise to the widespread use of Thai nominees, where Thai citizens are paid to hold fifty-one percent of the shares on paper, allowing the foreigner to maintain operational control.

Next, Ed brings up the legal gray area surrounding this practice. He clarifies that while having genuine Thai business partners is perfectly fine, using fake nominee shareholders who possess no actual financial stake or voting power is strictly illegal under Thai law. Greg then steers the conversation toward recent government crackdowns on this practice. He discusses how authorities have been aggressively targeting blatant abuses of the nominee system, specifically focusing on certain foreign-owned businesses in tourist hotspots like Phuket and parts of Bangkok.

Ed subsequently highlights the massive risks that foreigners take when utilizing these shady corporate structures. He points out that because the Thai nominee legally owns the majority of the company, the foreign investor has almost zero legal recourse if the nominee suddenly decides to seize control of the assets or the business bank accounts. Finally, Greg wraps up the topic by suggesting legitimate alternatives to the nominee route. He points out that foreign entrepreneurs should instead look into the Board of Investment promotion or the US-Thai Treaty of Amity, both of which offer legal pathways to complete foreign ownership without the associated risks.

Greg begins his interview with coffee fan, aficionado and expert Noon by exploring her background as the former president of the Specialty Coffee Association of Thailand and her current role managing Lamarzocco, the high-end coffee machine retailer.

Noon explains her deep dive into coffee quality and traces the rapid evolution of the Thai coffee industry over the past fifteen years. She points out that Thailand is highly unique because it both produces and consumes its own coffee, which creates incredibly short communication lines between rural farmers and urban cafe owners. Next, Noon breaks down the agricultural history, explaining how early royal projects replaced opium crops with disease-resistant but less flavorful hybrid beans, prompting modern farmers to pivot toward higher-quality varieties.

The conversation then shifts to the different historical waves of coffee culture. Noon describes the progression from basic instant coffee to the cafe culture popularized by major chains, followed by the artisanal third wave, and finally the current fourth wave that focuses heavily on the science and exact consistency of brewing. She notes that high-end machines are crucial for maintaining this modern standard.

Following the interview, Ed and Greg discuss Noon's insights. Ed admits that he is relatively new to the coffee scene and shares his mild frustration with overly expensive, pretentious coffee shops. Greg agrees, reflecting on his own habits and acknowledging that while massive chains offer reliable consistency, they simply cannot match the nuanced quality and dynamic energy of the booming specialty coffee market in Thailand. But that's the great thing about coffee - it's a drink that can fit into almost any social or cultural situation.

Greg and Ed discuss the 100th 'birthday' of Lumpini Park. The guys begin by highlighting the improvements in the park over the last several years. More and cleaner bathrooms, landscaping, and an adjacent 'hawker center' are some of the highlights. Greg then reviews the different facilities that populate the 142 acre park, such as a fitness center, swimming pool, and even a lesser known library, one of the first in Thailand to be truly open to the public.

The show then shifts to a walk-and-talk in the park itself, recorded a few days before. With its proper roof and organized layout, the Hawker Center is a definite upgrade over random street vendors but in the end is just another Bangkok market. The boys tell some funny Lumpini-centric stories about their early days in Bangkok and their great memories of the park, before a discussion of the soft power possibilities of the park's famous monitor lizards.

Next, they check out the status of the Green Mile, the long walkway from lower Sukhumvit and Benjakitti Park to Lumpini Park itself. There is now a twisting walkway leading down into Lumpini, suitable for bike riders. The guys walk over Wireless Road and note that the path seems wide open all the way to Benjakitti. Both guys celebrate the realization of a long dream of Bangkok cyclists: riding through Benjakitti Park, up onto the Green Mile, and then down into Lumpini Park without once having to dismount! It might have taken decades, but that dream is finally a reality. :)