THE WEEK THAT WAS Thailand of yesteryear; Rooster reminisces as an antidote to all that boring news

[roger101]

On 2/7/2022 at 4:13 AM, bangkok19 said:

Back in the early 80's....

 

I remember when making an International phone call from a 'private' phone booth along Sukhumvit Rd I'd have to pay 100 Baht and the lady in the office outside would terminate the call abruptly after 1 minute.

 

There was another Supermarket between Villa and Sukhumvit Soi 1...    The Kangaroo Supermarket. It was on Sukhumvit near the corner of Soi 19, right where Macca's is today. There was also a rear lane access. Just down the road past the ASIA Book Shop was a large TFB (Thai Farmer's Bank) and also the Kloster Beer Head Office.

 

The 10, 20, 100 & 500 Baht banknotes were the local currency denominations, there were no plastic (polymer) notes and no 1000's.  Brown Satang coins always filled your pockets.

 

VASU Money Exchange (Sukhumvit Rd) was a Travel Agent at the front, and a little black market 'hole in the wall' at the back.  You'd get your bundles of 500 Baht notes in a brown paper bag. 

 

At the OLD Thermae Coffee Shop, the deaf and dumb ladies would always congregate around the Juke Box in the centre of the room (for the good vibes, I guess).

 

Sukhumvit Soi 22 was a very quiet Soi.

 

Ratchadapisek wasn't there. That link road between Rama 4 and Sukhumvit didn't exist. It was originally only Soi 16 (off Sukhumvit Rd) and an access to the Thai Tobacco Monopoly.

 

You could drive through Patpong 1 Rd and park there. 

 

If you brought a (bar) lady back to a large 4 &1/2 Star hotel at night the reception would add a "JOINER FEE" to your Bill..  usually 400/500 Baht. If you tried to get her in during the day....  good luck. It wasn't allowed during the day as they didn't want the other guests seeing the girls.  Hotel Security knew all the tricks.

 

The local hotel in Chiang Khan was 20 Baht per night (with community bathrooms).

It had a huge restaurant balcony on stilts over the Mekong River.  At night, the owner would let you drive your car inside the building at lock it up in the reception area. There were not many other cars in town.

 

Kuhn Sah, the biggest exporter of Heroin in S.E.Asia at the time had his HQ in a small but busy Soi in Chiang Mai. The small compound had a sign at the front gate -  PATTANA MEAT FACTORY and it was guarded by soldiers.  For those older locals, it was just down the road from Stuart and Nok's OASIS BAR and the BLACK CAT BAR.

 

The Chiang Mai version of the Thermae Coffee Shop was THE PEACOCK CAFE.

It closed most mornings at sunrise and was situated under the MONTRI HOTEL.

(now the Coffee Club and Subway).  The local bar girls would kick-on there after hours. There were NO BARS in Loi Kroh except for a couple near Kotchasarn Rd corner. The beer bars were scattered around Moon Muang Rd and Kotchasarn Rd, Chiang Moi lane (The Karen Hut) and the rest in the Night Bazaar and the Soi behind it (Blue Sky Bar, Seven Stars, Heart Bar).

 

Aaaaah, the good ol' days.    

 

 

 

 

I remember the Oasis and the Black Cat Bar, my two favorite bars in town.  I actually bumped into to one of the owners of The Black Cat many years later in Pattaya.

[BostonRob2]

On 2/8/2022 at 8:32 PM, 3NUMBAS said:

it went over a 100 briefly 1 afternoon and then plunged the next day

I remember thinking at the time as it changed 3+ baht a day that 120 here we come. But it soon dropped to stabilize about 73-76. I had a rather large inheritance paid to me at 73.3. Happy days!

[BostonRob2]

It's been interesting reading the comments. Though I think MM needs an editor more than me. Keep following the column, regards Rooster.

[Dionigi]

On 2/8/2022 at 6:35 PM, nauseus said:

Whatever..... I trust my information from the horses mouths.....so to speak.

Wrong end of the horse that info is coming from

[lopburi3]

On 2/5/2022 at 12:38 PM, webfact said:

the taxi driver never turned on the meter because there wasn’t one

Actually remember taxis did have meters in the late 60's but only use was to hang cap (they had uniforms) on the flag.  And commercial taxis were not allowed on Don Muang so you boarded off duty Air Force members driving officers vehicles.  And police would try to stop them as you got into city - more than one wild ride as drivers tried to avoid motorcycle police (as they were fined several hundred baht if caught).  

[nauseus]

2 hours ago, Dionigi said:

Wrong end of the horse that info is coming from

Are you talking out of your a*se then?