Wats & Working Girls: How Thailand Balances Buddhism and Red Lights [S7.E42]

Wats & Working Girls: How Thailand Balances Buddhism and Red Lights [S7.E42]

Greg and Ed begin a new series called "Thailand: Land of Contradictions" with the first installment addressing a fascinating, apparent conflict in Thai culture: how can Thailand have so many temples on the one hand, but also so many 'working girls' on the other?

The Land of Smiles is well-known as a very Buddhist country, in the sense that approximately 95% of Thais identify as Buddhist. Now many might not be strict in the truly religious sense, but there's no doubt that many aspects of Thai culture and society are informed by underlying Buddhist beliefs. However, the country is also very well-known as providing many outlets for adult entertainment and companionship. The guys note that applying standard Western common sense, these two just don't seem to fit together.

However, with their combined over 40 years of experience swimming in the chaotic soup of Thai culture, Greg and Ed do their best to explain what's going on through a Thai lens. Ed notes the contrast between the Western notion of 'burning in hell' versus the Eastern concept of 'bad karma' as well as the difference between a culture based on guilt versus one based on shame. Greg applies some Google-fu and comes up with some more academic takes on the issue, including one of weighing a sin against one's intentions while carrying out the sin. The boys do their best to make sense of it.

Experts they are not, but listen in for two amateurs with a lot of experience doing their best to resolve this apparent mystery of Thai culture.

Don't forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. We also sometimes post on Facebook, you can contact us on LINE and of course, head to our website (www.bangkokpodcast.com) to find out probably more info than you need to know.

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Former FBI Agent John Schachnovsky Talks Crime & Punishment in Thailand Part 2 [S8.E22]

Former FBI Agent John Schachnovsky Talks Crime & Punishment in Thailand Part 2 [S8.E22]

First off - if you're in town, join our meetup: Saturday, December 6 at The Warehouse on Charoen Krung Road. Check our Facebook page first before you come just to make sure there have been no last min...

25 Marras 202547min

Former FBI Agent John Schachnovsky Talks Crime & Punishment in Thailand [S8.E21]

Former FBI Agent John Schachnovsky Talks Crime & Punishment in Thailand [S8.E21]

In part 1 of a two-part episode, Greg and Ed interview John Schachnovsky about his upcoming book "Beyond the Badge," which recounts his experience as the head of the FBI in Thailand. John starts out e...

18 Marras 202542min

Road Blocks: The Big Issues That Thailand Needs to Solve [S8.E20]

Road Blocks: The Big Issues That Thailand Needs to Solve [S8.E20]

Greg and Ed discuss an article on Ajarn.com by Dr. Jesse Sessions called "What Does the Future Hold" which discusses some of the bigger problems currently facing Thailand and how they might impact the...

11 Marras 202536min

Heritage & Culture: How Siri Sala Private Thai Villa Preserves the Past for the Future [S8.E19]

Heritage & Culture: How Siri Sala Private Thai Villa Preserves the Past for the Future [S8.E19]

There's a lot of great buildings and great history that has been bulldozed over in Bangkok, so it's nice when we see someone going the extra mile to actually preserve both an historic physical space a...

4 Marras 202547min

Great Thailand Advice We Ignored…But Shouldn't Have [S8.E18] (ReCast)

Great Thailand Advice We Ignored…But Shouldn't Have [S8.E18] (ReCast)

As Thailand starts got back to bid-ness after COVID, there were a whole lot of n00bs coming in to tour, work and live. Most who have been here for a while already remember what an overwhelming experie...

28 Loka 202534min

Summing Up: Giving Bangkok's Ubiquitous Malls Some Slogans [S8.E17]

Summing Up: Giving Bangkok's Ubiquitous Malls Some Slogans [S8.E17]

This week Greg and Ed have a bit of fun revisiting an old blog post from Greg about what would be the best slogans for various malls around Bangkok. As most listeners know, Bangkok may very well be t...

21 Loka 202542min

Avoiding the Newbie Drama: Are Long-Term Expats Just Lucky? [S8.E16]

Avoiding the Newbie Drama: Are Long-Term Expats Just Lucky? [S8.E16]

We've all seen the incredible amount of drama that can go down if you don't run a tight ship in Thailand - everything from visa worries and bank problems to relationship blow-ups and trouble with the ...

14 Loka 202530min

Murder in Thailand: Kevin Maes Talks About His Book "Kingdom of Trials" [S8.E15]

Murder in Thailand: Kevin Maes Talks About His Book "Kingdom of Trials" [S8.E15]

In a special episode, Greg and Ed interview Kevin Maes in Kevin's own podcast studio on Rama IV. Kevin is a long-time expat in Thailand hailing from Belgium who became entangled in a very unfortunate ...

8 Loka 20251h 1min

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