Talking with Ron Morris, author of The Thai Book: A Field Guide to Thai Political Motivations (2.40)

On this episode of the Bangkok Podcast, we interview Ron Morris,
the author of The Thai Book: A Field Guide to Thai Political
Motivations. But before we get into that discussion, Greg goes into
(thankfully minor) detail about his second experience with food
poisoning after 16 years of eating street food.

Given the size of Greg, it's safe to say he's an expert on street
food. But despite eating his way through, under, around, and on
top of Bangkok for his entire time here, he has only been sick
from eating street food once. Until last week. There was no
hospital visit or death bed vigils, but the crab curry he ate
made sure he spent a "lot of time alone, in a small room," if you
get the drift. Nothing to do with Thai food...it could happen
anywhere. But still...you play with fire, you get burned. But our
main topic today is miles away from street food yet still very
much in the street. Ron Morris is an author and Thai political
commentator who has been in Asia for decades. As the man behind
2Bangkok.com, he's built up a reputation as someone who calls it
like it is, with a keen insight into the motivations and
reasoning behind the often murky - even opaque - political
machinations of Thailand's leaders. Evo's discussion with him is
broken into "chapters" which Evo and Greg comment on, but they
include topics such as:


What Bangkok was like in the 1990s when Ron's first coup took
place, the infamous Black May protest of 1992, which saw 52
deaths

Why protests in Thailand are seen as a very last resort
before it hits the fan, unlike in western countries where protest
is a sign of a strong, stable democracy

The concepts of "face" and "big man" and how they guide
relationships, reactions, business, and politics

Why it's impossible to graft the western ideas of
liberal/conservative/libertarian etc onto Thai political parties

Ron's comments on the current administration, and what
they're doing that others have not.

Love, Loathe, or Leave

This week is more of a "Would You Rather", but Greg and Evo
discuss transportation in the rainy season. Which do you prefer:
having a car, deciding when/how/where you go, controlling your
environment....and possibly getting stuck in traffic for 3 hours?
Or would you rather be crushed into the BTS, fighting off
commuters and splashes from the rain...but have a pretty good
idea of when you'll get home? OR...how about just ignoring all of
that and riding between the cars on a motorbike...but having to
deal with wet shoes and rain gear?
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(Direct download .mp3)