Up Close & Personal With Thai Culture: The National Museum Volunteers [Season 4, Episode 32]

Up Close & Personal With Thai Culture: The National Museum Volunteers [Season 4, Episode 32]

You know how foreigners aren't allowed to be tour guides in Thailand? Well guess what - there's an interesting little loophole to that, and it's a great opportunity to get to know Thai culture in a very real way.

Greg interviews Dr. Peter Hufschmid-Hirschbuehl (hereinafter referred to as 'Dr. Peter' for obvious reasons), the President of the National Museum Volunteers, the only museum that allows foreigners to train and work as tour guides. The training program provides a quite extensive background in Thai culture, and many go through the program just for the education. Once finished, graduates lead tours in English, German, Japanese and French.

Dr. Peter goes into detail on the National Museum, highlighting both its positives and negatives, and relates insights into its collection and what it says about the Thai culture, and the artistic and creative things that it's produced over the millenia.

Dr. Peter then explains the training program, which involves quite a few hours of work, and has a nuanced focus depending on where the tour groups are coming from (for example, the French have a very different history in Southeast Asia than the British or the Germans or the Japanese).

All in all, the National Museum should be on the itinerary of any tourist to Thailand, and the guide program should be on the list of any expat with an interest in Thai culture.

As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we'll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

Episoder(561)

Action Figure Overload: How Accurate Are the Thai Versions of the Viral AI Trend? [S7.E67]

Action Figure Overload: How Accurate Are the Thai Versions of the Viral AI Trend? [S7.E67]

Greg and Ed jump on the bandwagon and discuss the recent trend of images of 'action figures' generated by AI. ChatGPT especially seems quite good at creating semblances of plastic blister packs filled...

22 Apr 202544min

Interesting Friends And Strange Characters: Expat Connections [S7.E66]

Interesting Friends And Strange Characters: Expat Connections [S7.E66]

Greg and Ed discuss some interesting expats they have met over the years - both good and bad - and what lessons they have managed to glean from them. Thailand is a bit of a strange stew of expats; wit...

15 Apr 202542min

Myanmar Quakes & Bangkok Shakes: Thoughts on the March 28 Earthquake [S7.E65]

Myanmar Quakes & Bangkok Shakes: Thoughts on the March 28 Earthquake [S7.E65]

Greg and Ed address the unavoidable topic du jour: the earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28 that was felt all the way to Bangkok. Greg begins by pointing out that even though much ink and many w...

8 Apr 202535min

Sopping, Soggy, Sodden, Soaking Songkran: The Thai New Year is Here! [S7.E64]

Sopping, Soggy, Sodden, Soaking Songkran: The Thai New Year is Here! [S7.E64]

With the big holiday nearly here, Greg and Ed reminisce about their various Songkran experiences over the years. Ed notes that last year was a breakthrough year: he actually went out and 'threw water'...

1 Apr 202539min

Second Opinions & Jedi Lies: Stories From Bangkok's Hospitals [S7.E63] (Classic Recast)

Second Opinions & Jedi Lies: Stories From Bangkok's Hospitals [S7.E63] (Classic Recast)

A fabulous re-cast episode from season 3! Sooner or later, we all spend some time in the hospital, so Greg and Ed riff on their myriad experiences in Bangkok hospitals over the years. But before we ge...

25 Mar 202545min

The Russians are Coming! What the Influx Means for Phuket [S7.E62]

The Russians are Coming! What the Influx Means for Phuket [S7.E62]

Greg and Ed discuss the massive influx of Russians (and some Ukrainians) into Thailand, particularly the island of Phuket. Numerous stories have been written in the last year about the unusually high ...

18 Mar 202526min

Bangkok Pains: Distilling Bangkok Into a Board Game [S7.E61]

Bangkok Pains: Distilling Bangkok Into a Board Game [S7.E61]

Greg interviews Tim Swainson and his team at creative agency Invisible Ink about their Thai-centric board game, 'Bangkok Pains.' The show begins with introductions from the creative team at Invisible ...

11 Mar 202544min

How Thick is Your Bubble? Piercing the Thai/Expat Barrier [S7.E60]

How Thick is Your Bubble? Piercing the Thai/Expat Barrier [S7.E60]

Following a great suggestion from listener Kelly, Greg and Ed discuss the 'expat bubble,' the tendency for expats (and tourists) to primarily spend time with foreigners, rather than experience the sam...

4 Mar 202531min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
wolfgang-wee-uncut
grenselos
alt-fortalt
min-barneoppdragelse
fladseth
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
synnve-og-vanessa
krisemoter
198-land-med-einar-trnquist
rss-frekvens-med-anine-olsen