Bangkok 1976

[pattayadgw]

I have a question that only old asia hands can answer.  Im wanting to know the name of a hotel located near the infamous 'Malaysia Hotel'  in Bangkok 1976.  It's a place i stayed in August 76 as the Malaysia was full... on the tip of my tongue and frustrating me big time.

Thank you DG

[Yagoda]

The one in Sathon thats still there? Off Rama IV?

[marin]

The Privacy otherwise known as the Thungmahamek Hotel

 

Stayed there many a time from 76- about 85.  Managed by Banpot Tankel one of the nicest Thai's I have met. Would mail him a letter and have a room waiting each and every time. Loads of people waiting in the lobby everyday for people to check out so new ones could check in. 

 

Never liked the Malaysia as it had polyester sheets back then and they were hot, Privacy cheaper and better IMHO. Nice little coffee shop in the back as well. 

[VillageIdiot]

Boston Inn?

Just a guess.

It was famous/infamous back in the day.

The only thing it lacked was Charles Sobhraj.

[PJ71]

Looks like a prison!

[Gottfrid]

16 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

Looks like a prison!

Yep, or school. 😉 

[RUSirius]

I'd always thought doing an overview of BKK hotels circa Vietnam war era would be a great YouTube watch.

[chondan]

12 hours ago, VillageIdiot said:

Boston Inn?

Just a guess.

It was famous/infamous back in the day.

The only thing it lacked was Charles Sobhraj.

Met Charles Sobhrai in Soi Ngam Duplee and did not find out about until 5 years later.

[marin]

20 hours ago, PJ71 said:

Looks like a prison!

 

20 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Yep, or school. 😉 

 

19 hours ago, RUSirius said:

I'd always thought doing an overview of BKK hotels circa Vietnam war era would be a great YouTube watch.

Never thought of that at all. The Malaysia was build for officer on R&R, it had a pool, The Privacy was for the enlisted men, simple and no pool. For years the Privacy is where upcoming boxers in Muay Thai would stay for their fights at the old Lumpini

[JimHuaHin]

That was a nice trip down memory lane.

[RUSirius]

There was Florida, The Rex, Miami, Dusit in Silom. 👍

[RUSirius]

10 hours ago, chondan said:

Met Charles Sobhrai in Soi Ngam Duplee and did not find out about until 5 years later.

 

I recall early lonely planet guides pegging this as a sketchy area with cheap digs. I never ventured backside wat, st motel near Khao Sarn for first few years of backpacking for layover. When they stopped the A-bus running there.  I then found Pattaya to be cheaper and easier to get to than KSR. Pattaya was an eye opener 😁

 

I'd traveled hard in South and East Asia a decade before I did much of any travel in Thailand. Even in early 90s it already looked finished. Meanwhile, there were temples in South Asia, Cambodia and tribes and temples in Myanmar. Vietnam, Nepal. Now, every tourist ghetto looks the same and SEA is overrun by party hounds.

 

Wish I saw Thailand in the 80s, but I couldn't break free of my job and California life

[CMHomeboy78]

On 3/29/2025 at 9:15 AM, VillageIdiot said:

Boston Inn?

Just a guess.

It was famous/infamous back in the day.

The only thing it lacked was Charles Sobhraj.

Spot on... Charles Sobhraj didn't operate out of the Boston Inn.

He had a flat in Kanit House and his partner-in-crime, Ajay Chowdury was based at the Malaysia Hotel from where they met many of their victims.

Jailed in India after his luck ran out in 1976, his story has been written about and filmed many times as an ongoing criminal adventure.

He's still alive as far as I know. Recent information about him is hard to find. Maybe some members could give an update.

Those who were here in the late 1970's will remember the large numbers of Thais - and many foreigners - who were con-artists of one type or another. Maybe not homicidal nutcases like Sobhraj, but just as clever at parting you from your money, your valuables, or your passport.

It was all part of the journey and there was nothing "sentimental" about it.

When I first came here in 1978 I knew what to expect because I had done the Hippie Trail two years earlier with a friend, riding two-up on his BMW 650, so I had already graduated cum laude.