I’ve been in Thailand now for a little over two months now. Although I miss the US a lot, I’ve been learning a lot of new things, and meeting a lot of wonderful people here in Bangkok. In other words, I’m having a blast out here.
The day after I arrived, November 9 2010, I attended a Bangkok Hackerspace meetup at True Coffee (Siam Soi 2). I walked in thinking it was going to be something akin to Jelly Chicago and community building.
Turns out, it was more about getting an actual physical location, an actual building space to have meetups and hackings– a hackerspace (Yes, I had to look it up). A lot of the conversation revolved around money, maybe putting together a business plan, what we would do with such a space, who would take ownership of this or that, etc.
And to be honest, that seemed a bit far from what I thought I could help out on since I’m still relatively new to Bangkok. I’m still familiarizing myself with the tech communities forming here– although not as much as what I’m used to in Chicago.
Some groups/resources that I attend (or will attend) in Bangkok, Thailand:
- Graphic Designers & Creatives In Bangkok
- Web Design, UX Design & Web Development Meetup Group in BKK
- Thai Ruby on Rails
- Bangkok Hackerspace Wiki
- Barcamp Thailand (Google group)
- Bangkok Beercamp (Google group)
Am I missing any?
What I enjoy about some of these meetups already is that they require no space to rent out. Meetups occur at coffee shops, restaurants, bars– any place that has room to accomodate the attendees. Everyone is there to talk, to network, teach, and learn. How awesome is that?!
Also wanted to post on some stuff that I see is going on in Chicago:
- The Chicago Hackerspace Group: Pumping Station One
- Desktime Chicago - pairs people with places to get work done