Richard Barrow on Twitter Trolls, Upset Officials & Train Guides [S6.E29]

This is Part 2 of our epic interview with Richard Barrow, giant
among expats in Thailand. In the second half of the discussion,
Richard continues with explaining his slow rise as a 'citizen
journalist,' first simply documenting his travels around
Thailand, but eventually becoming a chronicler for
English-speakers of daily events in the country. The yellow and
red shirt political struggles and natural disasters such as the
floods of 2011 meant that the expat community was in serious need
of a dedicated, competent, native English speaker with knowledge
of both Thai language and Thai culture. And Richard fit the bill.


The guys also try to dissect Richard's motivations, given his
very little effort to monetize all the work he does outside of
his main job. Richard's explanation is simple: he likes reporting
on stuff in Thailand and does it simply as a public service. Greg
and Ed do their best to try to understand how and why this makes
people's heads explode and can come up with only one explanation
besides "people suck": the anonymous power the Internet gives
you. 


Last, Richard explains his obsession with Thailand's rail lines,
and the Thai government's subsequent interest in that obsession.
Check out the resulting collaboration here.
https://www.thaitrainguide.com/


Who knows, but now that Richard's notorious reluctance to give
interviews has been broken, he MAY become an annual guest on the
podcast. We can only hope.


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