diff --git a/api/db/telethon_db.py b/api/db/telethon_db.py
index 30d61d3..f27a9f1 100644
--- a/api/db/telethon_db.py
+++ b/api/db/telethon_db.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import datetime
 import sqlite3
 import uuid
 import os
-from telethon.sync import TelegramClient
 from .db import Database
 
 class TelethonDatabase(Database):
@@ -29,17 +28,6 @@ class TelethonDatabase(Database):
         """
         super(TelethonDatabase, self).__init__(database)
 
-        # Load in the API tokens required for a bot
-        api_id = os.environ.get('telethon_api_id', False)
-        api_hash = os.environ.get('telethon_api_hash', False)
-        api_token = os.environ.get('telethon_token', False)
-
-        # Create an instance of the Telethon bot
-        if api_id and api_hash and api_token:
-            self.bot = TelegramClient('bot', api_id, api_hash).start(bot_token=api_token)
-        else:
-            self.bot = False
-
         # Automatically create the table if it doesn't
         # already exist in the selected database
         self._create_table()
diff --git a/server.py b/server.py
index e902330..4464f1a 100644
--- a/server.py
+++ b/server.py
@@ -6,11 +6,44 @@
     This file contains the web server for a simple bookmarking application
 """
 
+import os
+import _thread
 from bottle import Bottle, run, response, route, template
 from api import API
+from telethon.sync import TelegramClient, events
 
 _api = API()
 
+# Load in the API tokens required for a telegram bot
+api_id = os.environ.get('telethon_api_id', False)
+api_hash = os.environ.get('telethon_api_hash', False)
+api_token = os.environ.get('telethon_token', False)
+
+# Create an instance of the Telethon bot
+if api_id and api_hash and api_token:
+    bot = TelegramClient('bot', api_id, api_hash).start(bot_token=api_token)
+else:
+    bot = False
+
+bot_state = False
+
+@bot.on(events.NewMessage)
+async def handle_message_events(event):
+    if 'start' in event.raw_text:
+        await event.reply('started')
+
+def start_bot_thread():
+    """
+        We run the telegram bot in a seperate thread
+        to be able to also serve the HTTP content.
+
+        The bot thread will be idle most of the time
+        due to the async nature of it, and the fact
+        that it won't receive much traffic
+    """
+    bot.start()
+    bot.run_until_disconnected()
+
 @route('/')
 def index():
     return "This is the index"
@@ -42,4 +75,6 @@ def update_bookmark_uri(bookmark_id, uri):
     return _api.update_bookmark_uri(bookmark_id, uri)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
+    # Start the Telegram bot and the bottle server
+    _thread.start_new_thread(start_bot_thread, ())
     run(host='localhost', port=8080)