Newbie observations on the expat community and the Bangkok podcast

[waiking]

Something is wrong with you. I am preparing a move to Thailand, after seven years in China and before that a couple in Japan and South Korea, and I have spent some time checking out the "expat scene" - blogs, forums, pod casts, books. Especially pod casts have been a great resource in China. But I have to say I'm shocked. I've been listening to the back catalog of the Bangkok podcast, by far the biggest Thailand expat pod cast. I am shocked at how cringlingly, embarrassingly, bad it is. The hosts are, literally, completely unprepared, and after the best part of two decades in Thailand (for at least one of them) they seem to completely lack any insight or interest in current affairs or culture or politics or history or economics or anything really beyond the usual trivial tourist tropes. Case in point: can you imagine staying for more than a decade in a country, any country, and not even learning the language properly?

 

The Bangkok podcast is not without value. It is at its best when interviewing interesting people. I am right now enjoying the interview with the American who runs a successful bar/restaurent in Bangkok. But here is just one example of how ill-prepared the podcast is: in the opening the host says that the place has been open for eleven years, only to be corrected by the owner that it has only been open for six years. The lack of preparation or any real interest in their subjects is ridicoulous.

 

Here is a suggestion: compare the Bangkok podcast to any of the main Chinese expat podcasts - Sinica for example. I can understand that "where to get the best burger" and "how to avoid getting scammed" might be of interest to first-time tourists, but if that is the depth of your insight into a country you have stayed in for years I feel truly sorry for you.

 

I know I go on about this particular pod cast. But the worst thing is that I have a strong feeling that it is indicative of the whole expat scene: it is lazy. What boggles my mind is, why move to a country if you are not really interested in it? Please convince me that I am wrong. Are there any non-infantile resources for expats that I am not aware of?

 

[Jingthing]

The expats are lazy, ya think? Maybe they have assimilated to the local "tropical" environment better than you think. What do you think the locals mostly talk about? Just replace noodle soup for hamburgers.

[Gumballl]

Quote

Something is wrong with you.

Or perhaps there is something wrong with you, making such general comments.

[waiking]

12 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

The expats are lazy, ya think? Maybe they have assimilated to the local "tropical" environment better than you think. What do you think the locals mostly talk about? Just replace noodle soup for hamburgers.

I'll grant that is a good point. But if you are serious about being lazy you should at least do it properly. Lazy Thai people don't hang around in Starbucks or McDonalds, I imagine.

 

Just saw your hamburger edit: yes, sure. I suppose it is mainly the lack of progression that blows my mind. It is like someone staying in China for two decades and still talking about how different it is to use chopsticks.

[waiking]

2 minutes ago, Gumballl said:

Or perhaps there is something wrong with you, making such general comments.

That might be a false dichotomy.

 

[Jingthing]

Just now, waiking said:

I'll grant that is a good point. But if you are serious about being lazy you should at least do it properly. Lazy Thai people don't hang around in Starbucks or McDonalds, I imagine.

 

Just saw your hamburger edit: yes, sure. I suppose it is mainly the lack of progression that blows my mind. It is like someone staying in China for two decades and still talking about how different it is to use chopsticks.

I started to give your O.P. the benefit of the doubt but then I read your trivial nit pit about an interviewer not knowing the specific number of years some bar had been open and then decided you're taking the piss.

 

Yes, I agree people living in China should learn how to use chopsticks. Duh. 

 

I kind of have the opposite problem. I'm so conditioned to the Thai style fork-spoon method that I like to use it with western food. That's more or less OK in Thailand but traveling in the west it inspires stares and pity (like I must be developmentally challenged). 

[VocalNeal]

5 minutes ago, waiking said:

Lazy Thai people don't hang around in Starbucks or McDonalds, I imagine.

No in the villages they sit on bamboo day beds at the front of the house.

[Jingthing]

6 minutes ago, waiking said:

That might be a false dichotomy.

 

That's the best kind of dichotomy.

Farang pub anyone?

[colinneil]

OP you say the whole ex-pat scene is lazy, so you mean the likes of me?

Sat here all day in my chair doing nothing but moaning about everything.????

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, colinneil said:

OP you say the whole ex-pat scene is lazy, so you mean the likes of me?

Sat here all day in my chair doing nothing but moaning about everything.????

You tell him, Colin! Don't hold back. 

[Jingthing]

Hey, newbie, you best cool your jets with your cheeky lip or the local expats lazy though they may be might start a GoFundMe page and send you back where your whinging butt came from, on a slow boat to Shanghai. You're not in Kunming anymore! This is the big show here, Thai freakin' Land! 

[worgeordie]

I am sure when you arrive in Thailand,you will be able

to change the thinking and the way Expats live here,

your in for a bumpy ride if you think you can tell those

on TV how they should be living.

regards Worgeordie

[Gumballl]

18 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I started to give your O.P. the benefit of the doubt but then I read your trivial nit pit about an interviewer not knowing the specific number of years some bar had been open and then decided you're taking the piss.

 

Yes, I agree people living in China should learn how to use chopsticks. Duh. 

 

I kind of have the opposite problem. I'm so conditioned to the Thai style fork-spoon method that I like to use it with western food. That's more or less OK in Thailand but traveling in the west it inspires stares and pity (like I must be developmentally challenged). 

Regardless where one is eating, I have found that eating dishes of food, in particular those which include rice, is best done with a spoon. The hell with what the western world thinks.

 

Regarding chopsticks, IMHO, they are inefficient. They're great if you cannot afford a spoon or a fork, and it looks cool to use them when eating Asian food, but that's about it.

 

P.S. I forgot; chopsticks also come in handy if one finds themselves in e kung <deleted> [foo] fight.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, Gumballl said:

Regardless where one is eating, I have found that eating dishes of food, in particular those which include rice, is best done with a spoon. The hell with what the western world thinks.

 

Regarding chopsticks, IMHO, they are inefficient. They're great if you cannot afford a spoon or a fork, and it looks cool to use them when eating Asian food, but that's about it.

 

P.S. I forgot; chopsticks also come in handy if one finds themselves in e kung <deleted> fight.

They are good for noodles and of course Thais use them for noodles (as do I). 

It's especially hilarious in the west to watch people eating regular non-noodle Thai food with chopsticks!

[Gumballl]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

They are good for noodles and of course Thais use them for noodles (as do I). 

It's especially hilarious in the west to watch people eating regular non-noodle Thai food with chopsticks!

Sorry, I've been coming to LOS since 1997. I cannot recall (perhaps I have not paid attention) to anyone eating noodles with chopsticks. Even my wifey does not use them, and she's from a humble background.

 

In the US, those eating Pho eat with chopsticks. Yes, funny, and inefficient.

 

P.S. I have to add that eating Japanese sticky rice is somewhat easier with chopsticks than, say, eating Thai jasmine rice.

[Jingthing]

7 minutes ago, Gumballl said:

Sorry, I've been coming to LOS since 1997. I cannot recall (perhaps I have not paid attention) to anyone eating noodles with chopsticks. Even my wifey does not use them, and she's from a humble background.

 

In the US, those eating Pho eat with chopsticks. Yes, funny, and inefficient.

 

P.S. I have to add that eating Japanese sticky rice is somewhat easier with chopsticks than, say, eating Thai jasmine rice.

In my experience Thais eat noodle soups with chopsticks and of course a spoon for the broth. You might be talking about stir fried noodles where sometimes Thais would use chopsticks and probably mostly not. I guess I should have said noodle SOUPS. 

 

Now that I think about I was eating a shrimp in vermicelli noodles in hot pot the other day with chopsticks and a table of Thais was staring at me. Ironically that's really a Chinese origin dish. 

[NCC1701A]

43 minutes ago, waiking said:

Here is a suggestion: compare the Bangkok podcast to any of the main Chinese expat podcasts

you see the difference between Thailand and Communist China is that in China you have no human rights and you can be made to disappear for saying or doing the wrong thing. Unlike in Thailand.      

[Traubert]

6 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

you see the difference between Thailand and Communist China is that in China you have no human rights and you can be made to disappear for saying or doing the wrong thing. Unlike in Thailand.      

That's the populist belief, but in actual fact you can say or do what you like.

 

However, try and raise a mob to support your idea without approval and you'll get a stripey suntan.

[KittenKong]

38 minutes ago, waiking said:

I've been listening to the back catalog of the Bangkok podcast, by far the biggest Thailand expat pod cast. I am shocked at how cringlingly, embarrassingly, bad it is. The hosts are, literally, completely unprepared, and after the best part of two decades in Thailand (for at least one of them) they seem to completely lack any insight or interest in current affairs or culture or politics or history or economics or anything really beyond the usual trivial tourist tropes.

Why do you assume that farangs who come here and end up working here are in any way competent? (I suppose that making podcasts is indeed work designed to produce some sort of financial reward.) With just a few exceptions most farangs working here are second or third rate, and have come here because they couldn't cut it in better places, or for other reasons like being wanted by the police or having Thai partners. So you should expect their output - and their incomes - to be in accordance with that.

 

Most of the really competent farangs that I know personally here don't work here at all: they are retired - often at very early ages - and now live off savings/pensions/investments. Would they be making podcasts? I don't think so.

 

 

44 minutes ago, waiking said:

Case in point: can you imagine staying for more than a decade in a country, any country, and not even learning the language properly?

Absolutely I can. In fact I am a shining example. Does that make me any less smart or competent?

[simon43]

8 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

you see the difference between Thailand and Communist China is that in China you have no human rights and you can be made to disappear for saying or doing the wrong thing. Unlike in Thailand.      

Exactly - your relatives will always know to look in the Mekong for your remains ????????????

[Puchaiyank]

Just stay in China...I fear you will open your yap with your superior attitude...and get a quick rebuke and attitude adjustment from an expat taking umbrage with your comments...

 

Expats here are not lazy...just enjoying our retirement...????

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Puchaiyank said:

Just stay in China...I fear you will open your yap with your superior attitude...and get a quick rebuke and attitude adjustment from an expat taking umbrage with your comments...

 

Expats here are not lazy...just enjoying our retirement...????

No. Please come. Perhaps he would like to buy my condo?!? Fresh meat is always needed. 

[Berkshire]

54 minutes ago, waiking said:

Case in point: can you imagine staying for more than a decade in a country, any country, and not even learning the language properly?

 

55 minutes ago, waiking said:

But the worst thing is that I have a strong feeling that it is indicative of the whole expat scene: it is lazy. What boggles my mind is, why move to a country if you are not really interested in it? Please convince me that I am wrong.

I'll have to admit that you've made some good points regarding expats in Thailand, particularly regarding learning the language.  Personally, I have learned to speak Thai and can do so at an advanced level.  But many of my farang friends have not bothered.

 

But regarding the Bangkok podcast, I've been in Thailand 15+ years and have never seen one.  I suppose I just prefer to go out there and learn stuff on my own. 

[Isaanbiker]

36 minutes ago, colinneil said:

OP you say the whole ex-pat scene is lazy, so you mean the likes of me?

Sat here all day in my chair doing nothing but moaning about everything.????

It seems that we are all lazy old buggers who do nothing. 

[NCC1701A]

3 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Why do you assume that farangs who come here and end up working here are in any way competent? (I suppose that making podcasts is indeed work designed to produce some sort of financial reward.) With just a few exceptions most farangs working here are second or third rate,

you are right, i was a gigolo in Los Angeles and I could barely get a gig, but in Bangkok at least I am not losing money.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Isaanbiker said:

It seems that we are all lazy old buggers who do nothing. 

Nothing?

 

My goal is to eat at every Indian restaurant in Pattaya someday.

[OneMoreFarang]

Who listens to podcast? Maybe that's a thing for millennials but that's about it.

And who produces them? Can you make money with podcasts?

I look from time to time at some YouTube videos and most of the people who create these videos seems to be just a little smarter then first time tourists. I guess first time tourists are impressed with that - but nobody else.

 

Would a successful businessman crate a podcast? I don't think so.

 

And about why people come to Thailand: Isn't that obvious? No, it's mostly not about the weather and not about the temples and also not about the food. It's also not about all those incredible smart employees. It's about having fun!

[CGW]

20 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

you see the difference between Thailand and Communist China is that in China you have no human rights and you can be made to disappear for saying or doing the wrong thing. Unlike in Thailand.      

Unless you are Chinese in Thailand then you will be sent back home if they ask, then you will disappear?

[PatOngo]

Please don't hesitate. Come and SAVE US, quickly!

[KittenKong]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

My goal is to eat at every Indian restaurant in Pattaya someday.

I think that this is a mathematical impossibility as at least one new Indian restaurant seems to open every day here. Also only Warren Buffet could possibly afford to eat in an Indian restaurant here every day.