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!