Merry Christmas From Bangkok! (2.11)

It's that time of year again in Thailand - the holidays season!
Did you notice the extra 's' there? It was intentional, because
December is one of the most holiday-heavy months in the
whole year. Not only do you have Father's Day and Constitution
Day, but you also have Christmas - or at least the most intense
commercial aspects of it. That rolls right into the (western) New
Year, which rolls into the (Chinese) New Year, and a few weeks
after that we roll right into (Thai) New Year.


(Direct download .mp3)


Evo and Greg discuss what it's like living in a Buddhist country
that celebrates - with almost equal gusto - holidays imported
from different countries, cultures, and religions, and what it's
like spending time at the shopping malls, which heavily, heavily
promote everyone's favorite part of Christmas - buying stuff. And
that's all. Holidays on Christmas Day? You must be mad! It's a
regular work day, son. And speaking of sons, Greg also ponders
whether or not it's worth the trouble lying tointroducing his son
to the concept of Santa, his magical reindeer, and his
circumnavigation of the globe in a single night - especially
since Santa, as far as most Thais are concerned, is nothing more
than a cheesy Ronald McDonald-like cartoon designed to sell toys.
Well actually...they're not far off. We also discuss Bangkok's
air quality. A recent Al Jazeera story said it was better
that many major European cities...but Evo looked around
(including on the World Air Quality Index) and thinks there's
something fishy about the claim. Don't forget to leave a comment
or tweet to us - @BkkGreg or @EvoTerra!