Mr. Trink Is Back.

[Neeranam]

I always wondered if he were gay - working with prostitutes for decades and never taking any of the freebies.

[Neeranam]

I enjoyed reading it as a new guy to Thailand as it had some different places to go for a drink and a show.

It didn't fit in with P's "Social Order policy" and I believe thaty's why it was dropped. Who wants a national newspaper telling your visitors where to get a cheap s**g when you're aiming for the upmarket spend all their money in the big resorts type of people. It didn't fit with the image the previous crowd were trying to hoodwink people into believeing.

I believe that it was his repeated statements that there was ABSOLUTELY NO AIDS in any of Bangkok prostitutes that lead to his downfall - quite rightly so. Idiot.

[Ulysses G.]

I believe that it was his repeated statements that there was ABSOLUTELY NO AIDS in any of Bangkok prostitutes that lead to his downfall - quite rightly so. Idiot.

Don't remember him saying that.

[keestha]

I was always wondering if many freeloaders were attracted by Trink mentioning that a bar would be offering a free roast to celebrate the owner's birthday or something.

Just a thought.

Edited August 26, 2007 by keestha

[ColPyat]

I think Trink has a good writing style and surely a wealth of memories to pass on.

I enjoyed reading "Nite Owl" right up to the end - boringly repetitive? yes! - but like an old pair of slippers reasuringly so!

He even responded to an E-mail in print...........and it wasn't a nice e-mail

And he isn't a nice man either.

He's a venomous, condescending, self indulgent old git, who, even though spending a major part of his life in Thailand, never bothered to learn the lingo.

His column was an institution though, and absolutely unique. Even though it was badly written in the later years, it should have been kept up.

Edited August 26, 2007 by ColPyat

[Mobi]

I think Trink has a good writing style and surely a wealth of memories to pass on.

I enjoyed reading "Nite Owl" right up to the end - boringly repetitive? yes! - but like an old pair of slippers reasuringly so!

He even responded to an E-mail in print...........and it wasn't a nice e-mail

And he isn't a nice man either.

He's a venomous, condescending, self indulgent old git, who, even though spending a major part of his life in Thailand, never bothered to learn the lingo.

His column was an institution though, and absolutely unique. Even though it was badly written in the later years, it should have been kept up.

I met him a few times back in the 70's when his column used to be published in the now defunct Bangkok World. He would go around the bars with a photographer, and the resultant go go girl pics were printed alongside his weekly Nite Owl column.

he was just as insufferable in his younger days - maybe more so, as he was a bit more of a 'star' then.

I remember that he also used to write scathing reviews of 'eateries' where he had wined and dined for free!! But somewhere along the line the Post put a stop to all that.

People tend to forget that if it wasn't for Trink there would be no Soi Cowboy - indeed it was Trink who gave the Soi it's name after the first bar that opened there, by an American called Cowboy. In those days all the action was down in Patpong and Trink used to plug Soi Cowboy, week after week, month after month, and eventually the place slowly started to take off with more bars opening. I reckon it was a good few years before Soi Cowboy started to match and even surpass the business in Patpong, and Trink never ceased his overt plugging of the soi he had named.

I agree with those who have said his column ended up being total rubbish. Clearly time had passed him by and he had become a parody of his former self. There was something almost pathetic in his final ramblings.

All things - good and bad - must come to an end and it was probably correct to call time on Nite Owl. The only problem I have is the way in which the Post handled it. One week he was there - the next week gone - with nary a word of goodbye, or thanks for a column that must have run for more than 30 years and right up to the end had a following throughout the world. A legend and institution deserved better, and it did the Post no credit to cancel it in such a fashion. (IMO, the Nation missed a trick by not making a news story out of it.)

BTW, as others have said, Trink has never 'been gone'. From the day his Nite Owl stopped, he was writing weekly Book reviews in the Friday editions. He probably didn't suffer much financially, but I dare say his pride has never recovered from the sudden and shabby demise of his beloved Nite Owl.

[Boksida]

never taking any of the freebies.

Not true - in the 70s anyway

[Ulysses G.]

I think Trink has a good writing style and surely a wealth of memories to pass on.

I enjoyed reading "Nite Owl" right up to the end - boringly repetitive? yes! - but like an old pair of slippers reasuringly so!

He even responded to an E-mail in print...........and it wasn't a nice e-mail

And he isn't a nice man either.

He's a venomous, condescending, self indulgent old git, who, even though spending a major part of his life in Thailand, never bothered to learn the lingo.

His column was an institution though, and absolutely unique. Even though it was badly written in the later years, it should have been kept up.

He called my bookshop, "The best used bookshop in SouthEast Asia", so he wasn't all bad.

Edited August 27, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[Scott]

After moving away from Thailand for several years, one of the things I did every week was seek out an on-line connection and read Night Owl. It was so reassuring to know things were the same. It was a reasonably informative micro-cosm of Bangkok life and how it was/wasn't changing.

[LucMee]

I think Trink has a good writing style and surely a wealth of memories to pass on.

I enjoyed reading "Nite Owl" right up to the end - boringly repetitive? yes! - but like an old pair of slippers reasuringly so!

He even responded to an E-mail in print...........and it wasn't a nice e-mail

And he isn't a nice man either.

He's a venomous, condescending, self indulgent old git, who, even though spending a major part of his life in Thailand, never bothered to learn the lingo.

His column was an institution though, and absolutely unique. Even though it was badly written in the later years, it should have been kept up.

he was just as insufferable in his younger days - maybe more so, as he was a bit more of a 'star' then.

People tend to forget that if it wasn't for Trink there would be no Soi Cowboy - indeed it was Trink who gave the Soi it's name after the first bar that opened there, by an American called Cowboy. In those days all the action was down in Patpong and Trink used to plug Soi Cowboy, week after week, month after month, and eventually the place slowly started to take off with more bars opening. I reckon it was a good few years before Soi Cowboy started to match and even surpass the business in Patpong, and Trink never ceased his overt plugging of the soi he had named.

I think it's a bit of a reach to give ol' Trinky Winky credit for SC... The old boy plugged the Soi because it was quid pro quo. I remember him as an old trout who was beginning to smell a bit "fishy" and whose star was waning back in the mid 80's.

He got his fair share of "Credit" in the Soi Cowboy places... But I knew Cowboy... And he wouldn't take kindly to your giving Mr. Trink the credit for the street that bears his name.

I admit that I was a loyal reader of the Nite Owl until it went away... It was a beloved link of mine to the LOS after I left. But even in the 80's the old boy was a bit of a faded diva... And well he played the part!

But...credit where it's due... The old boy is/was an expat institution and anyone who was around in the pre aids days was probably inspired by his exploits and ramblings to go out and make some "history" of their own.

Edited August 27, 2007 by LucMee

[Prakanong]

trink and stickman are the two experts on thai culture that we can rely on

Oh so thats what Thai culture is - bar girls and whore houses - well I never

[Prakanong]

never taking any of the freebies.

Not true - in the 70s anyway

Exactly - he even used to "Review" the girls did he not?

He was a scruffy git - you would have thought his long suffering wife would have kept him clean.

[cdnvic]

His unauthorized biography says he was faithful to his wife. Odd profession for such a person if it were true.

http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/200...books.horn.html

[Mobi]

I think Trink has a good writing style and surely a wealth of memories to pass on.

I enjoyed reading "Nite Owl" right up to the end - boringly repetitive? yes! - but like an old pair of slippers reasuringly so!

He even responded to an E-mail in print...........and it wasn't a nice e-mail

And he isn't a nice man either.

He's a venomous, condescending, self indulgent old git, who, even though spending a major part of his life in Thailand, never bothered to learn the lingo.

His column was an institution though, and absolutely unique. Even though it was badly written in the later years, it should have been kept up.

he was just as insufferable in his younger days - maybe more so, as he was a bit more of a 'star' then.

People tend to forget that if it wasn't for Trink there would be no Soi Cowboy - indeed it was Trink who gave the Soi it's name after the first bar that opened there, by an American called Cowboy. In those days all the action was down in Patpong and Trink used to plug Soi Cowboy, week after week, month after month, and eventually the place slowly started to take off with more bars opening. I reckon it was a good few years before Soi Cowboy started to match and even surpass the business in Patpong, and Trink never ceased his overt plugging of the soi he had named.

I think it's a bit of a reach to give ol' Trinky Winky credit for SC... The old boy plugged the Soi because it was quid pro quo. I remember him as an old trout who was beginning to smell a bit "fishy" and whose star was waning back in the mid 80's.

He got his fair share of "Credit" in the Soi Cowboy places... But I knew Cowboy... And he wouldn't take kindly to your giving Mr. Trink the credit for the street that bears his name.

I admit that I was a loyal reader of the Nite Owl until it went away... It was a beloved link of mine to the LOS after I left. But even in the 80's the old boy was a bit of a faded diva... And well he played the part!

But...credit where it's due... The old boy is/was an expat institution and anyone who was around in the pre aids days was probably inspired by his exploits and ramblings to go out and make some "history" of their own.

I wouldn't want to start an argument about this, but I knew that Soi before there was a single bar on it, and sure Cowboy, along with one or two others opened bars there (remember Lorettas? - who was in fact married to Cowboy at one time), but it was undoubtedly Trink who penned the name "Soi Cowboy" and plugged it week after week in his now legendary column.

Even in those days many farangs would regard Nite Owl as a load of garbage - but it didn't stop them reading it, and quite a number of them decided to give Soi Cowboy a try and decided that they quite liked the down market sleaze in the shape of the newly arrived Issan farm girls who were being purveyed in that part of town. Back then, Soi Cowboy and Patpong were as different as chalk and cheese.

Without Trinks' exhortations to farangs to give it a try, there is no doubt in my mind that Soi Cowboy would have died without trace, a la all the "Rosemary' bars that used to exist in various parts of Suhumvit.

I wouldn't deny that there was a degree of 'quid pro quo' involved, and I agree with your summation of his general state of smell - even in the 80's.

As for Cowboy himself, well as you must know, he was more adept at drinking than running bars and has long since departed the soi that bares his name.

[polecat]

Er, the restaurant review wasn't even by Trink. Not according to my copy of the paper. I suspect technical gremlins.

Funny that the mere mention of his name got so many of you excited, though, eh?

[Prakanong]

I believe that it was his repeated statements that there was ABSOLUTELY NO AIDS in any of Bangkok prostitutes that lead to his downfall - quite rightly so. Idiot.

Don't remember him saying that.

He is an AIDS denier - the HIV does not cause AIDS

[kmart]

Personally, I really love those old Burma Shave limericks.

[taxexile]

given the number of replies to any topic mentioning his name it is obvious the man left a legacy and for that alone he should be given due credit.

i saw him once or twice in his dotage , "doing the rounds" , and he was a sorry sight , overweight , grumpy looking and wearing trousers that came up to his nipples , he could have been a character out of dickens.

political correctness killed his column in the post , and now stickman and others on the web offer the same information.

mekhong kurt , another institution , (but i'm not sure why) , can still be seen shuffling around washington square with his hat and grimy shoulder bag.

they are a reminder that we will all get older and unwanted and they should be respected more because in the days before the net and mobiles , they were the only source of information for the much smaller number of "pioneer" expats who lived , worked and played here. in their own way they were the forerunner of web boards like this.

Edited August 27, 2007 by taxexile

[Ulysses G.]

I believe that it was his repeated statements that there was ABSOLUTELY NO AIDS in any of Bangkok prostitutes that lead to his downfall - quite rightly so. Idiot.

Don't remember him saying that.

He is an AIDS denier - the HIV does not cause AIDS

Yes, but he didn't deny that AIDS itself existed and I don't remember him saying that no one in Bangkok had it - only that it was less prevelent than upcountry.

[torrenova]

I wonder how many of us, if any, will be remembered after we leave the scene, for those of us who are in it or around it ? And then, for how long will we be thought of amongst the current and then the next generation ? I doubt many.

Some think they are parts of history or are writing history as they pass though but very few leave a mark so bright as to be remembered either with fondness or distain.

[wasabi]

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[PadThaiGuy]

His readership was HUGE, HUGE, HUGE.

The articles became a bit boring when the authorities started paying attention to him and raiding the bars he mentioned in his column.

If a place was going topless or doing special shows, the cops were there to put an end to the fun.

The bar owners didn't want to be named in his column after that.

He would have done well online but his web people made it a 'pay' site and people just went to the free sites... Stickman etc.

[astral]

On the other hand he does seem to do better with his restaurant reviews.

I only hope his restaurant reviews are better than his film reviews.......

I remember the report on the film 12 Monkeys.........

He had clearly never seen the film, or had slept through most of it.

[jayjayjayjay]

I don't mind a little MSG now and again.

It can lead to impotence in the long term. But I guess you don't care, you're more into the short time.

Trink's MSG was likely the have the reverse effect!!!!!!! 555555

[PhilHarries]

I'm of the opinion that it was a dark day that he was squeezed out, one more nail in the coffin of life being full of characters and a move towards bland conformity.

Aint that the truth.

The difference between good journalism and bad lies in the mind of the reader. Personally I found his column to be a good read, light hearted banter and not a place you'd go looking for serious analysis or deep and meaningful discussion.

[mbkudu]

This is noted by Jerry Hopkins in his great book, 'Bangkok Babylon' which runs chapter by chapter profiles of Bangkok characters. Trink is one of the few who gets an unsympathetic write-up for just this quirk.

'Bangkok Babylon' is one of the worst pieces of literary (if you can call it that) trash I've ever read. What a waste of money. The worst part is that Hopkins egotistically includes himself as the last chapter among the 'celebrities'.

[TheEmperorOfTheNorth]

Hmm.. I have a feeling some people have a bad case of seeing the past more rosey than it was.

Especially Guesthouse: Hello, he celebrated the Thai sex industry, which you yourself claim is rife with abuse, trafficking of young girls, girls driven by poverty not able to withold consent.

Then, blabbering on about how hiv doesn't cause aids when Thailand narrowly escaped a major epidemic in the 1980's and 1990's is bordering the criminally irresponsible.

He's a fossil, of the neo-colonial type who can manage decades in Thaiand without getting any grasp on the language or culture. Thank GOD Thailand has moved on since then, even the Western Expat scene has moved on.

Good riddance.

[kmart]

Hmm.. I have a feeling some people have a bad case of seeing the past more rosey than it was.

Especially Guesthouse: Hello, he celebrated the Thai sex industry, which you yourself claim is rife with abuse, trafficking of young girls, girls driven by poverty not able to withold consent.

Then, blabbering on about how hiv doesn't cause aids when Thailand narrowly escaped a major epidemic in the 1980's and 1990's is bordering the criminally irresponsible.

He's a fossil, of the neo-colonial type who can manage decades in Thaiand without getting any grasp on the language or culture. Thank GOD Thailand has moved on since then, even the Western Expat scene has moved on.

Good riddance.

Tend to agree. His column in the latter years was just regurgitated old jokes; "Burma-Shave" limericks; and info on pig-roast locations to balloon-chasers. c/w the same old turgid crap about "demimondaines" "TIT" (cover-all of everything he despised about LOS), etc.

He was certainly "a character" back in the day, but stayed well past his sell-by date with the Nite Owl column.

Edited November 8, 2007 by kmart