bangkok19

21 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Was it The Deer Hunter?  I don't remember a band, but I do remember them filming in Patpong.  My buddy was in the film as an extra, chatting up bar girls as he liked to do.  I was late to the party by a few days.  I think he got paid $20 a day.

I remember the scene in the Mississippi Queen Bar in PP1.  I don't remember a band though....  just Christopher Walkens' character, the girl and her screaming baby.

My mate was in the scene at the Military Hospital, you could just see the back of him walking with another doctor.

Back in the 80's I had a mate (Richard F) who was living on Sukhumvit Soi 23. He was an ex oil worker with Schlumberger. He was hitting the grog too hard so he went into a self imposed rehab programme.

There was an advertisement in the local paper for an 'Assistant' required by Disney Productions.

My mate applied for the job and got it.

He had to report to the lobby of the Oriental where he met up with the head honcho..  he was to be Robin Williams personal assistant during the making of the movie "Good Morning, Vietnam".

They'd hired out a whole floor of the Oriental where Williams was staying..  converted part of it to a gym. Robin Williams (apparently) was just recovering from a stint in Rehab for drugs..  he and my mate (Richard F) formed a bond as they were both recovering from an addiction of sorts. 

He was telling me that a lot of the filming was done at the Malaysia Hotel (used for the radio station) however filming scenes were constantly interrupted by Thai Police raids on the hotel for drugs as there were still guests staying there.

In one scene where you see Robin Williams (in the city) handing out money to the Vietnamese girls family,  they use Richard's arms/hands in the close-up of handling the money.

They used a small regional airport out of town for the Saigon Airport scenes...  it was constantly raining and all the "extras" were getting bored and restless standing around doing nothing...   in an attempt to stop the extras walking off, Robin Williams decided to gather all of them together and proceeded to tell them jokes for over an hour until the rain stopped.  I would've loved a videotape of that!

In contrast, when filming at the Malaysia Hotel they WANTED rain...  they had to use hoses/sprinklers outside the windows to make it look like rain.

What has all this got to do with Bangkok's old bars you may well ask?

I used to drink with Richard F at the OFFSHORE BAR in (Sukhumvit) Soi 23, there was a big SCHLUMBERGER sticker on the back wall behind the bar....   and did I mention those great bar stools in the Offshore that swivelled and had armrests?

Another old bar that I have previously mentioned in my posts was THE BAARN BEER BAR in Patpong. The owner Connie, sold it to new people in about 1990 and it was renamed COSY COMFORT BAR. 

The HARE 'N HOUND was the Soi Cowboy Bar that was the meeting place for the H.H.H.

American Ted owned the MY LADY bar for years... after he got out of it, he became a regular at WASHINGTON SQ then later, the MOONSHINE in QPP. 

Josh was the name of the cook at the TEXAN LONE STAAR...  he was a regular at the MOONSHINE until his passing.

On Sukhumvit Rd, between Soi 22 and the (Cinema) entrance to Washington there was a TIP TOP bar with pool tables. Their sign resembled the TIP TOP sign in Patpong 1...  I never went in there,  but I always wondered.

COUNTRY ROAD BAR on the corner of Cowboy (years ago) bought out the bar next door and extended. For a while it was a separate room with snooker tables. The stage over the years has been moved around from the corner to the back to the corner to the back.

I remember OOT, he used to be one of the Thai singers...  singing many classics as I WALK THE LINE ,  STAND BY YOUR MAN and (who could forget) aCHy, braCHy HEART!

He was a fixture there...  sadly, several years ago he had a fall in the men's room, hit his head and died.

I can remember departing the old Thermae one morning and having a uniformed Thai policeman salute me as I left the premises.

It was strange walking out of the place during daylight with all the city workers on there way to work!

The old Thermae was an 'institution'...  you gained entry by accessing the toilets at the rear of the building. I would always hang around the jukebox with some of the 'hearing impaired' girls. If you reached around the back of the jukebox there was a volume knob, you'd turn it way up so the girls could 'feel' the bass!

When they demolished the old Thermae, a mate of mine, who is an author of Bangkok based crime novels, wandered through the ruins and took some of the vinyl from the cubicle's bench seats..  he used that vinyl as an insert in his "collectors editions" of his first book, which happened to mention Thermae as HQ.   I suggested that he should have bound the hard copies of his book in the Thermae vinyl...   how many bums sat on that!

I hope somebody here starts a thread on the old bars of Chiang Mai....  some history there brothers!

More Bar interiors keep popping up in my brain but the actual names escape me!

NEW COWBOY BAR in Soi 22 was opposite HANKS BAR (owned by the Air America chopper pilot)...  both (back in the 80's) were frequented by many residents of the LIBERTY PLACE apartments.  Many great expat Darts players resided at the Liberty.

The 80's saw the Bangkok Building Boom -  cranes everywhere on the horizon the eyes could see. One of the new landmarks to the city at this time was THE QUEENS PARK HOTEL in Soi 22 (now The Marriott)...   Soi 22 was once a fairly quiet Soi however since the construction of The QP Hotel the Soi is busy as...

I remember the opening of the QP Hotel..  half price beers, the place was packed.  I was there one night when (after a George Benson Concert in BKK) his entourage returned to the Hotel and it was free beers all night!

In more recent times the QUEENS PARK PLAZA was an enjoyable diversion with a WIDE VARIETY of bars.

Mitch's MOONSHINE was a favourite late afternoon stop, nice food and good company.  They always had great Christmas dinners with a huge buffet spread on the pool table.  POPEYE and BUNDY BAR were good but in small doses as everybody seemed to smoke.

Many a great evening has been spent in the B52 however I won't go into detail here.

The SIN BIN was a great name for a bar.  I met the lovely Nuna sitting outside this bar.  She lived in 22 and was known around QPP. Sadly she passed away about 7 or 8 years ago.

Down the road from QPP heading towards Sukhumvit and a left turn..  the small Soi...  back in the 80's there was a great little restaurant/bar own by a Norwegian fellow (I think his name was Myna).. good food.  Later on, nearby was THE PELICAN. I remember their free dinners once a month...  you had to get there really early to get a seat. Word obviously got around about the freebie and it was always full of "one time" new faces.  Just down a bit from THE PELICAN was TINA BAR.  It was a cocktail lounge, dimly lit with all the trimmings that go with low light.  T'was great for an afternoon session albeit a bit expensive..  always enjoyed walking out (with my wallet a little lighter) into the 6.00pm daylight thinking.. "I've still got all night!"   At the end of each afternoon I'd spend there I'd always remind myself to "check bin" after each round of drinks to keep track!  Never did.  You'd buy the girls a bottle of beer which they gladly drank...  their glasses were always filled to the top with ice!

The Dead Artist's Soi (Soi 33) was enjoyable, especially during Happy Hours.  My favourite was the Renior. I spent many of an evening upstairs there with a private group.  I remember finding a pair of ladies panties (used) wedged between the leather cushions of one of the lounges.  I also enjoyed afternoons at WALL STREET.  They either moved down a couple doors (or refurbished) however i stopped going there after I asked how much the bar-fine was. There was a really nice friendly girl there by by the name of Bok. She would never stop laughing.

Last but not least, a bar that undertook a change for the worse in recent years...  The CACTUS in Cowboy. My very favourite bar until one of the shareholders was shafted...  the food went, the music turned to sh_t and some of the girls left.  It's still there in body, but not in spirit!

And speaking of Cowboy... back in the day when the Soi was much wider, there was Crazy Jack's SHADOW BAR and his infamous raffles. Each time you bought a beer you'd get a raffle ticket. They'd have the draw at midnight. First prize was a "short time" upstairs. I remember winning a terry towelling bar mat.

Other old bars long gone,  The  VALENTINE Bar, MISS TEASE which was earlier called The DANDY BAR,  SHUFFS BAR, MY LADY, JOE'S BAR, TONY'S BAR,  BAMBOO BAR,  OUR PLACE and another bar who's name escapes me but under his sign it read "Home of the Bangkok Hash House Harriers".  

The early 80's saw me frequenting THE BAARN (next door to BLUE JEAN) in Patpong 1.. they were a few doors before the Madrid and now unfortunately long gone.  The very first bar I visited was the KEY NOTE BAR (next door to original Kings Castle). Walk down Patpong and turn left into Suriwong and there was LUCY'S TIGER DEN.

Turn the other direction on Suriwong Rd and walk past PP1 and PP2 and there was the LA CHERIE MASSAGE PARLOUR. It had escalators to get upstairs to it, you could have a beer and sit next to the glass and stare at all the (well endowed) girls applying make-up (no mobile phones back then to play with).

Halfway down PP2 there is a tiny outdoor bar at the start of the alleyway that runs past the covered bars, it's now VINAI'S BAR BEER (sans) but used to be CLEO'S BAR BEER (sans)...  it used to have Bangkok's oldest barmaid.

Walk past Foodland and way down on the left is CROWN ROYALE..  in the 80's it used to be frequented by "Embassy types" who'd had lunch at the MADRID then walked the small Soi past the old SUPERSTAR BEERGARDEN to the CROWN ROYALE for afternoon drinks.

Next to the Crown Royale was THE RIFIFI BAR owned by Mickey.. he would also sit up the back right hand corner of the bar to greet you. RIFIFI later became ELECTRIC BLUE and now (I think) it's a Steak joint.

The SUPERSTAR BEERGARDEN was in the small Soi that had SUPERSTAR on the corner. About 8 stools along a Bar where we'd watch a video (VHS) afternoons during Happy Hour...  It was 25 Baht a glass of Draft Amarit (takeaway cup available).  Head towards Silom Rd and there was the SAFARI and THIGH Bars...  back the other way was the GRAND PRIX Bar, one of the first bars in the Soi.

Venture to the Sukhumvit area ..  Soi Zero (already mentioned) was a group of bars under the Freeway..  a railway line crossed Sukhumvit adjacent...  I only ever saw 1 train crossover Sukhumvit Rd.  Soi Zero itself was bloody noisy from the traffic, and you'd get soot and grit stuck to your sweat.  Great atmosphere if you're half deaf and don't sweat!

The original THERMAE was on Sukhumvit near the Margarita Storm corner. It's now a small office block with 7-11 and ATM.

Much has been written about the old Thermae...  it's rear neighbour, THE MIAMI HOTEL is still running. 

I fear I'm slightly off-topic mentioning many of the Bars that have gone.

Down on the corner of Soi 19 where Robinson and the Westin Hotel are used to be the COCK'N BULL COCKTAIL LOUNGE. It was upstairs (right about where The Westin's fountain is at the moment).  Further down Soi 19 was the JOY BAR BEER BARBER SHOP.

Then further down the Soi (before the Honey Hotel) was the EYE Q BAR.

Back up the Soi near the corner was the old COUNTRY ROAD, Buffalo, the long haired guitarist played a mean guitar.

Walk further along Sukhumvit past the old VOLVO dealership (now Terminal 21 taxi rank)...  cross Asoke then down to the SHELL garage and turn left..  in the 90's, early, they demolished the bldgs behind the Shell in Soi 23 and gradually many Bars started opening up in there.  I remember the well endowed Noi, who originally worked in Joe's Bar in Cowboy opened a bar there. She'd have inbuilt radar and would drag you in before you were in line-of-sight.  When the bars were all gotten rid of for a new construction, Noi bought an enclosed pick-up truck and would park on 23 (near where Bradmans is today) and she'd sell grog, and you'd sit in the back of the pick-up and chat and drink.  

Back across the road (opposite Bradman's) were the SHIP INN and THE OFFSHORE BAR. The Offshore bar was renowned for having the most comfortable bar stools in Bangkok. What was originally the Offshore's office next door later became the infamous FISH AND CHIP SHOP.  Down the corner was the OLD DUTCH, and opposite (on 23) used to be the old BIERGARDEN.  An outdoor drinking area surrounded by lush greenery. Very popular in its day.

Further down Sukhumvit (directly opp Soi 22) was the SKWEEZE INN, a very small bar.

Opposite...  up 22 on the cnr of WASHINGTON was DENNY'S CORNER BAR, originally the bar's surface you were leaning on wasn't quite level and your beer bottle/glass would slide toward you.

I spent a lot of time in WASHINGTON SQUARE, great bars like SILVER DOLLAR aka BOBBY TOOM'S, THE TEXAN and THE PRINCE OF WALES near TAFFY'S.   Also in the small (dead end) Soi Starlight was MR DAENGS BAR...  it had an outdoor 'pisser' where you could look up at the QUEENS PARK HOTEL, and their guests could look down at you!   The 27 HOTEL was at the end of Soi Starlight. 

Further down 22 opposite LIBERTY PLACE apartments was HANKS BAR.  Hank was an Air America Chopper pilot in LAOS and had all his memorabilia plastered all over the walls. Black Andy was the chef..  he was a fixture at the old TEXAN LONE STAR, then later THE MOONSHINE in the QPP.

Of course most of these Bars are dead and buried but you could perhaps hire a mini bus and do a tour to the "sites" of these old Bars.  The sites and their stories would surprise many.