In a special main show, Greg and Ed interview Hal, Ed's OpenClaw bot about his knowledge of the Bangkok Podcast. The guys begin the show discussing their mutual obsession with AI but also explain how it could be especially relevant to those living in Bangkok, as Thailand adopts AI in a big way. Ed then tells of his struggles and travails getting the bot to work and to help him create an archive of all seven previous seasons of the podcast, along with transcripts.

For the highlight of the show, Greg and Ed actually talk to 'Hal' live! It has to be heard to be believed, as the interview is entirely unscripted and based on the bot's knowledge of transcripts from Season 1 of the podcast. Hal ends up being pretty good at some things - identifying Tony as the co-host, and explaining Jodi's travel writing - but horrible at other things, such as simply listing the guests on the show from Season 1.

After the interview, the guys discuss Hal's successes and failures and some plans to use AI to make the podcast better for everyone. One thing we know for sure: the AI of six months from now will be a lot better than today!

In a ReCast episode from season 7, Greg interviews well known Bangkok-based photographer Tim Russell about his book 'Bangkok Station,' which focuses (literally) on the iconic and now mostly defunct Hualamphong Train Station. Greg has had a special connection to the place over the past few months because he just finished organizing an event there for 300 guests last Friday, which is why we've been off air for the past two weeks as activity and stress reached their peak.

Tim begins by explaining his early days twenty years ago as a traveller in Vietnam and how he picked up photography as a way to document his travels. Eventually he made his way to Thailand and managed to pass through Hualamphong in its heyday. The guys discuss Huamlamphong's design by an Italian architect and its opening in 1916, making it a Bangkok institution for more than 100 years.

Greg interviews old friend of the podcast Rikker Dockum, Thai language expert extraordinaire about the Thai Royal Society, an organization dedicated to overseeing, promoting and regulating the Thai language. Rikker begins by explaining that he actually wrote his undergraduate thesis on the Society more than 20 years ago, so he's a longstanding follower of their work. He notes that it originally modeled itself after the French Academy, which, among other things, develops French words for English equivalents.

For instance, Greg brings up the issue of the word 'computer,' which is typically spoken in Thai as 'com-pu-TER,' even though the Institute has specified a true Thai word for the computer. Rikker goes through the etymology of the word, but Greg asks whether the work of the Institute is even necessary if people don't adopt the words they come up with. Rikker defends the use of public funds for work codifying 'official' Thai, noting that were it left to the private marketplace, the work would never get done.

The old friends continue their conversation about the Institute, emphasizing the need for such an organization for a language like Thai, which is vital to the history and culture of Thailand, but plays little role outside the country. Very few languages in the world are so popularly dominant that their continued preservation is assured, and unfortunately, Thai language is not one of them.

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