Did Anyone Know Trink?

[Neeranam]

Always looked like his trousers were round his chest.

[HugoFastor]

33 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

True, but they got phased out after a couple of years.

 

So "downscaled" rather than "fired"...

I remember when someone told me his column was ending or had ended around the time it stopped being published. I personally wouldn't have noticed either way because I wasn't a reader, but, if I recall correctly, the snarky jibes at the time were that he wasn't fired, but that he was being shuffled off to the rubber room where he could continue his writings in peace. I guess the notion was that towards the end of his reign at BP that he was losing touch, that his writings were becoming a bit incoherent, and to the point they no longer offered much utility. I don't know, because I never really read his stuff much anyway, so maybe this is anecdotal. 
 

But the fact that he continued doing some book reviews for BP, for a few more years after his column was deprecated, means he was seemingly still able to produce some useful content. 

Edited March 26 by HugoFastor

[HugoFastor]

16 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Always looked like his trousers were round his chest.

Because they were. 😂

[thecyclist]

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

True, but they got phased out after a couple of years.

 

So "downscaled" rather than "fired"...

Probably felt sorry for the "veteran ", or didn't want to outright fire someone who had worked for them for 40 years.

[thecyclist]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

Always looked like his trousers were round his chest.

The suspenders looked sexy too.

Sexy man Pattaya. Probably inspired the song.

[geisha]

I bought the BP due to Trink and Post Box , which was good in those days. Yes, Trink was one of a kind, entertaining and representative of the 80s for me. Bangkok was so different then, exciting, interesting. I looked forward to his stories and the house maid from Yasathon . Some of the comical ones I’d cut out and send to a friend back home , in the days we wrote letters. I still love Bangkok , I’d live there if it was breathable. 

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, geisha said:

I bought the BP due to Trink and Post Box , which was good in those days. Yes, Trink was one of a kind, entertaining and representative of the 80s for me. Bangkok was so different then, exciting, interesting. I looked forward to his stories and the house maid from Yasathon . Some of the comical ones I’d cut out and send to a friend back home , in the days we wrote letters. I still love Bangkok , I’d live there if it was breathable. 

The maid from Yasothon was Roger Crutchley, not Trink. Roger Crutchley was actually a proper writer and I used to enjoy his columns (he was also the sports editor of the BP). Trink had maybe 5% of his talent as a writer.

Edited March 27 by josephbloggs

[it is what it is]

1 minute ago, josephbloggs said:

The maid from Yasothon was Roger Crutchley, not Trink. Roger Crutchley was actually a proper writer and I used to enjoy his columns (he was also the sports editor of the BP). Trink had maybe 5% of his talent as a writer.

 

anyone who knows about writing knows trink was an awful journalist, i was always surprised the stickman site always held him in such high esteem.

[HugoFastor]

3 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

The maid from Yasothon was Roger Crutchley, not Trink. Roger Crutchley was actually a proper writer and I used to enjoy his columns (he was also the sports editor of the BP). Trink had maybe 5% of his talent as a writer.

I'm glad that you mentioned Crutchley. This triggered my memory of some of the other proper writers who used to write on various different subjects about Thailand 25-30 years ago. I actually had a list at one time of books I had read back then, and that I liked, but I can't find the list now. However, just going from memory, some of the proper writers that I can still recall are listed below. There were of course, many others, probably another couple dozen in fact. Anyway, if you have any others that you feel are notable and worth mentioning then please do.
 

Pico Iyer

Collin Piprell

Jerry Hopkins

John Burdett 

Philip Cornwel-Smith

William Warren

Kenneth Champeon

Edited March 27 by HugoFastor

[bangkok19]

On 3/26/2024 at 6:50 PM, HugoFastor said:

 

Was there also a popular watering on PP2 that could only be reached by entering through the carpark above Foodland supermarket?

I only ventured upstairs a few times and from memory it was to eat at the Derby King (?) .. they also did take away orders and delivered them to the nearby bars. Can't remember accessing there from the Foodland carpark though. The stairs were near Vinai's.

[bangkok19]

On 3/27/2024 at 3:59 AM, HugoFastor said:

Because they were. 😂

Stickman wrote on a few occasions that he'd see him at the La Scala cinema quite often, and he'd always undo the top button of his trousers before sitting down!

[ezzra]

Use to see him many times in the usual bar scenes, He was a personality, long before the digital age, good or

bad up to the individual POV, pretty much as many of the personalities today 40 years later...

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 3:38 AM, HugoFastor said:

TBH, I never read his stuff either so I can't rate the quality of his work. I never actually met him prior to that day either, but he was known for his large owl pendant, so I assume it was him.

But if he really was a talentless writer then Asia was a great place for someone like that from the 60's through the 90's. At that time there were a lot of people in Asia who could get by with low level skills simply because they needed a foreigner for the job.
 

But he was well liked I believe. Many people followed his column. I wasn't so interested in learning about bar anniversary parties, happy hours, and which bars had changed hands though.
 

Me and my mates just went out and everything was so easy to navigate that you didn't need a guide for any of that. 

 

 

When the poster you quoted comes out with garbage like the below quote, one knows he's full of it, as e mails didn't exist when I was reading Trink's column.

On 3/25/2024 at 3:31 AM, josephbloggs said:

His column was an abomination, just cut and pasted rubbish from emails,

 

I was an avid reader of his column, and there was nothing wrong with it. Anyway, it was more an information column than an opinion piece. I guess some allow their obvious dislike for the farang Bar scene in Thailand to taint their opinion of the man that reported on it.

 

I didn't use his column as a guide of where to go, or such like. I had discovered the greatest Gogo that was or ever will be in Bkk, the Hollywood Royale, the place of dreams become reality, so I never really went anywhere else. It was a hard blow when purachi ( may he rot in hell forever ) destroyed the scene, and the Royale ceased to be. The farang scene never recovered from purachai, so it was perhaps a good time for the Trink column to have also ceased to be. He did try to start a pay to use web site, but such rarely succeeds, and he vanished from my view.

 

He lived on though, long after his column died, till 2020

 

Here is a pretty good review of his time in Bkk.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Trink

A native New Yorker, Trink moved to Bangkok in the mid-1960s and taught English at various universities before taking over the "Nite Owl" column in 1966 at the now defunct Bangkok World, an English-language evening newspaper. Trink's popular "Nite Owl" column ran weekly for the next 37 years,

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, it is what it is said:

 

anyone who knows about writing knows trink was an awful journalist, i was always surprised the stickman site always held him in such high esteem.

In your opinion. Thousands disagree with you.

Stickman had it right.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, HugoFastor said:

I'm glad that you mentioned Crutchley. This triggered my memory of some of the other proper writers who used to write on various different subjects about Thailand 25-30 years ago. I actually had a list at one time of books I had read back then, and that I liked, but I can't find the list now. However, just going from memory, some of the proper writers that I can still recall are listed below. There were of course, many others, probably another couple dozen in fact. Anyway, if you have any others that you feel are notable and worth mentioning then please do.
 

Pico Iyer

Collin Piprell

Jerry Hopkins

John Burdett 

Philip Cornwel-Smith

William Warren

Kenneth Champeon

You say "proper writer" as some sort of snide put down, but I'd say Trink was more popular than all of them put together.

Anyway, you have it wrong as Trink reported more than he wrote, and your list is of authors, not reporters.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, geisha said:

I bought the BP due to Trink and Post Box , which was good in those days. Yes, Trink was one of a kind, entertaining and representative of the 80s for me. Bangkok was so different then, exciting, interesting. I looked forward to his stories and the house maid from Yasathon . Some of the comical ones I’d cut out and send to a friend back home , in the days we wrote letters. I still love Bangkok , I’d live there if it was breathable. 

You have it right. Trink was indeed a one off. I guess some allow their dislike of the farang bar scene to influence their opinion of the man, as I doubt any of them ever met him or talked to him.

Anyway, who cares about their opinion? He was a must read for myself, so I certainly don't.

 

A friend of mine had the Bkk Post sent to him in Saudi, and I'd photocopy the Trink column. Still have them somewhere.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/27/2024 at 7:36 AM, thecyclist said:

Probably felt sorry for the "veteran ", or didn't want to outright fire someone who had worked for them for 40 years.

Nah, they went PC. They did give him the boot without as much as a goodbye party.

 

PC is the scourge of modern life and a pox on it.

Edited March 27 by thaibeachlovers

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/26/2024 at 9:05 PM, HugoFastor said:

Speaking of the old days of Patpong, although PP wasn't a place I spent that much time at, does anyone remember the old Mizu's Sarika Steak House owned by Akio Masakari?

I first read of Patpong in the 1970s and it was a rather different place than it became in the 90s. One story I remember from the book was how a BG set another BG's hair on fire for "stealing" the guy she wanted.

 

I visited Bkk on a bus tour from Singapore in the 70's but got conned by the tour guide ( he would have got commission for every guy he took there ) to go see a sleazy ( and I mean really, really sleazy ) GI bar with a very boring live sex show, so I missed out on Patpong. Some of the guys on the tour did go there, and it sounded like they got the better deal.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/26/2024 at 4:05 AM, HugoFastor said:

The Honey Hotel on Suk Soi 19 is the one I think you were referring to.

After I discovered that hotel I always stayed there. It was brilliant. Such a shame it closed. They probably built some modern POS on the site, but I never went back to see.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 8:00 PM, HugoFastor said:

Those tiny green Mercedes buses from the seventies is something I can definitely say I do not really miss. They felt like rolling death traps. The drivers all seemed high as a kite and who thought they were driving to win in a go-cart race. I think they only charged 3 Baht, but they were a cr*p shoot. Low ceilings, exposed wood on the seats, narrow doorways (with doors that never closed), and you were lucky if you got at least one foot fully onto the stairs when getting on the bus before the driver took off. Even luckier if the driver pulled over at your desired stop. And then you often had to jump off into oncoming traffic while the bus was still in motion. Great though if you wanted to try and strengthen your neck muscles by preventing your head from smashing into a window frame as the driver suddenly swerved to pass another vehicle every 15 seconds. Windows all open, 4-5 loud oscillating  fans (usually only 2 were working), and nothing like the smell of that raw diesel belching black smoke out into the Bangkok skyline in the morning. 😊
 

Those buses were still around in the 90s, though they had proper seat padding then.

Perhaps not the same buses, but same colour and size.

The guy that took the money always had a job squeezing between the standing passengers.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 7:03 PM, HugoFastor said:

 

 

Since then Bangkok started making vast efforts to emulate the look and feel of a combination of Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore, with all of its rapid and ongoing redevelopment and, thus its special grit and unique flavor suddenly perished. 🥲

Yeah, they tried to make it a version of Singapore ( where I lived for a few years in the 70s ), but kept the awful infrastructure such as pavements that were broken and obstructed, telephone wires at head height, etc so they never really made it better. Singapore worked because it was all done with proper planning, but Bkk was a disaster area because there was never a plan, or at least one that worked.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 7:03 PM, HugoFastor said:

Thinking back to the Trink era, one of the most interesting things about Bangkok at that time was how a lot of Bangkok had been developed in the sixties and seventies and then very little of it changed up until around the year 2,000.

On my first visit to Bkk in the 70s, we went up the Golden Mount, which must have been the highest point in all of Bkk, and almost all we could see were shop houses. There may have been some buildings over 3 stories, but very few.

I have the photos some where. I'll have to see if I can find them to see if that is a proper memory.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 4:08 AM, Dolf said:

89, good effort. Never heard of him. 

You obviously haven't been in Thailand long enough. He pretty much vanished soon as his column ended, but pretty well known while he was writing it.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 4:18 AM, HugoFastor said:

 

Interesting, I didn't know very much about his backstory. Only a little bit about his writing. Below is something that was written about him on his Wikipedia page, sounds a bit conflicted:

 

Trink was often critical of the city's seamier, sleazier nightlife and always warned foreign men about becoming romantically involved with bar girls, whom he held in low regard.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Trink
 

Shadow Jack, who seemed pretty close with Trink, was also a pretty, let's say, unusual character. I went in his bar a couple of times. Some pretty bizarre things in there to say the least. I'll leave the sorted details out though.

Sounds like the bar on Cowboy I went into once. Had some "interesting" photos of the BGs by the door. I didn't know who the owner was though or remember the name of the bar.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 6:11 AM, HugoFastor said:

Probably it’s more interesting to people living overseas who are missing the Bangkok nightlife scene and want to stay in touch. That’s probably its main target readership.

That's exactly why I read Trink's column when in Saudi- to keep in touch with the scene I relished. I made loads of money in Saudi and spent a lot of it in Bkk ( I never made it to Pattaya till after I left Saudi for good- but once I did, I only passed through Bkk with one night in Nana before heading to Ekkami ).

Before anyone says it- I know Trink didn't write about Pattaya. Had he done so I might have arrived there sooner than I did.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 6:56 AM, HugoFastor said:

I once had to walk a mile on Sukhumvit Road just to find a fax machine to send some information to someone overseas.

Reminds me of my very first night in Bkk since the 1970s. I booked an hotel on Sukhumvit not far from Soi 4 at the airport which included a van to the hotel. I knew about Patpong, but never heard of Nana. I asked a hotel guy where the action was, but he brushed me off, so I set off to find it on my own. Sukhumvit after dark was closed, and not even a pedestrian in sight, not like now. I found a massage parlour with male masseuses ( if you know what I mean ), but that was not what I was after, so I walked to Patpong ( I didn't realise it was such a long walk at the time ) and completely missed Nana Plaza- so near but so far!

As for what happened at Patpong, that is another story, and one that will not be told on here.

[eumenades]

On 3/24/2024 at 10:18 PM, HugoFastor said:

 

Interesting, I didn't know very much about his backstory. Only a little bit about his writing. Below is something that was written about him on his Wikipedia page, sounds a bit conflicted:

 

Trink was often critical of the city's seamier, sleazier nightlife and always warned foreign men about becoming romantically involved with bar girls, whom he held in low regard.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Trink
 

Shadow Jack, who seemed pretty close with Trink, was also a pretty, let's say, unusual character. I went in his bar a couple of times. Some pretty bizarre things in there to say the least. I'll leave the sorted details out though.

 

How about Crazy Jack's  'Match the Snatch' and bonking booth?

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 10:39 PM, JemJem said:

Patpong is like a shadow of the Patpong of the 90's

As I remember it, it got taken over by bag shops, and then that <deleted> night market <deleted> ruined what was left.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/25/2024 at 11:14 PM, HugoFastor said:

Those mean-greens are still around? Didn't notice. I need to look more closely. I might be wrong, but I think at least 30% of all the city buses now are electric. They are lovely. Navy blue in color. Very quiet. The back door opens wide enough so that at least 3 people can pass through at once, no stairs (which prevents falls), and inside they are cool as a cucumber. They are also run by a private operator, which is good because it means they will be (hopefully) better maintained than the state run buses, but (possibly) bad because they could also fail if not profitable enough.

Oh how times change. I mainly used the non AC buses because they were cheaper than the blue AC buses, and also because they were more interesting. Seemed like relics of the past barely hanging together, wood floors and steep steps to get in and out. Had to be at the door to be able to get out before they drove off. I felt sorry for the drivers as they were stick shift.

There used to be a private company that ran pink AC minibuses, with a difficult front door to get in by, and the driver took the money, no conductor. I don't remember when, but they vanished long ago.

I never really figured out all the routes, as some of the routes had the same number, but went different places. They had the details in the window, but not in English. I learned the Thai for "all the way" ( sud sai ) to avoid problems with the amount of money required. I never went all the way, but it was so cheap it didn't matter. Sometimes I just held out a handful of coins and the conductor ( should that be conductress? ) helped themselves to the correct amount.

 

I loved riding Bkk buses, as it was a slice of life tourists on their big tour buses will never see.

I went train instead of air for the same reason, but that's another story.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/26/2024 at 2:36 AM, Prubangboy said:

I more like the idea of Trink than the mostly dross he churned out; calling go-go bars nighteries and hookers, demimondes. He was the pinnacle of the golden era of mongers, wearing big medallions and over-tailored shirts.

 

I have stayed the Miami Hotel on soi, where the film The Serpent was filmed to good effect. It's been done up since, but retains it's retro charm. Is it still open? I was thinking about booking it?

 

I knew Cleo Odzer who wrote Patpong Sisters, the first feminist, post-modernist critique -but surely unread here, except possibly by Gamma.

I bought a copy of Patpong Sisters, still unread 20 or even 30 years on. Never quite got around to reading it. Perhaps I might dig it out now I've been reminded of it.