But I Don't Give A Hoot !

[Pierrot]

B Trink didn't write only about sex, his column also usually included reflection about everyday life in Bangkok. He also had a column about food and restaurants, Friar Tuck. For a long time actually people were buying first Bangkok World then Bangkok Post because of his column, I don't think many newspaper writers can claim the same success.

Edited March 21, 2009 by Pierrot

[Neeranam]

B Trink didn't write only about sex, his column also usually included reflection about everyday life in Bangkok. He also had a column about food and restaurants, Friar Tuck. For a long time actually people were buying first Bangkok World then Bangkok Post because of his column, I don't think many newspaper writers can claim the same success.

Admit it Pierot, you are Trink.

[Ulysses G.]

The funny thing is that he was probably correct about AIDS being difficult to catch via hetrosexual intercourse (at least for the man), but no one ever admits it.

Nobody admits it because what purpose would it serve to do so? It would just encourage certain men to be more careless. The fact is that it is possible to get AIDS that way - for me that's enough - i'm not bothered about studying statistical figures on the chances - a 1% chance is too great a risk.

I happen to agree with you, but he was still pretty much right and was crucified for it.

[Pierrot]

B Trink didn't write only about sex, his column also usually included reflection about everyday life in Bangkok. He also had a column about food and restaurants, Friar Tuck. For a long time actually people were buying first Bangkok World then Bangkok Post because of his column, I don't think many newspaper writers can claim the same success.

Admit it Pierot, you are Trink.

After reading the story of his life, I wished . If you dream is to be a journalist and to live in Asia, he was someone in Bangkok. For a nobody, he's quite a role model. But the ending is quite sad, after being Bangkok star writer for decades, seing you column shrinks, becoming a pariah when the PC brigade took over...

But then, when seeing what the BP has become, he's most probably happy not to work there anymore.

Edited March 21, 2009 by Pierrot

[Ulysses G.]

Either could he.

[dotcom]

a bit similar to Stickman nowadays.

Although i guess he must still be running his site, it was my impression that it had pretty much died a death. No?

It's ghost written now by some other tosser.

Worthless either way.

[rixalex]

But then, when seeing what the BP has become, he's most probably happy not to work there anymore.

Quite. It's ironic that at the time the Bangkok Post started facing serious competition in the shape of the internet, the quality of the paper started to deeply decline. As if the readership didn't have reason enough to start looking elsewhere, the Bangkok Post made it that much easier for their customers, some of whom had been subscribers for decades, to stop buying it.

I wonder if the days of there being a quality daily English language newspaper in Thailand are behind us for good - certainly seems that way.

Sad.

Times change i guess.

[Boksida]

I thought his best columns were in the Bangkok World. People would read his restaurant reviews to be amazed at the amount of free food he could put away. Of all the things that have been written about him, I have never seen his astonishing design of tailored trousers mentioned. The waist is at breastbone level and he had to undo about 20 fly buttons to sit down and watch a movie.

His earlier Nite Owl columns had reviews of different BJs available around town and was a valuable public service.

[Oberkommando]

But then, when seeing what the BP has become, he's most probably happy not to work there anymore.

Quite. It's ironic that at the time the Bangkok Post started facing serious competition in the shape of the internet, the quality of the paper started to deeply decline. As if the readership didn't have reason enough to start looking elsewhere, the Bangkok Post made it that much easier for their customers, some of whom had been subscribers for decades, to stop buying it.

I wonder if the days of there being a quality daily English language newspaper in Thailand are behind us for good - certainly seems that way.

Sad.

Times change i guess.

Agreed, however be careful as there are a bunch of resentful posters here that will no doubt be along to condemn you for criticising the laughably poor quality of English language newspapers available in Thailand.

[dotcom]

I used to think Bernie was suffering from one too many comped Mekong & Coke but he was harmless.

BP treated him badly no doubt about that.

[Gary A]

His critics used to criticize him for being a freeloader in trade for a good write up. That wasn't true. He never asked for anything and always paid his tab.

[chiang mai]

I didn't realize at the time but when the "Trink Era" ended, the Thailand I had enjoyed so much previously, also lost much of its appeal.

[Boksida]

His critics used to criticize him for being a freeloader in trade for a good write up. That wasn't true. He never asked for anything and always paid his tab.

There must be two Trinks then. Certainly not the case for the one I know and I think he would be the first to admit it.

[webfact]

Burma Shave and Darkie Tooth Paste...

[chiang mai]

His critics used to criticize him for being a freeloader in trade for a good write up. That wasn't true. He never asked for anything and always paid his tab.

There must be two Trinks then. Certainly not the case for the one I know and I think he would be the first to admit it.

Agreed, albeit my view is from hearsay and knowledge of the folks that knew him whilst he was working for The Post.

[webfact]

The "end" was near when the Post reduced his weekly "Trink Page" to a half page and reduced again down to to a quarter page, as far as I remember. The bells for him started ringing during the events in 1992 and the aftermath. Coincidence?

Edited March 21, 2009 by webfact

[LooseCannon]

so did he actually have anything interesting to say or was it another middle aged westerner talking endlessly about whoring, ala stickman.

I have to agree with you here. Everything he wrote always seemed so much pointless rubbish, all stuff that any half wit with a modicum of a functioning brain could find out for themselves (this applies to stickman as well).

When I first read his column back in 1976 he came accross as a sad anachronism then, a throwback to the sixties, the quintessential barfly trying to sound like he had something important to say. As most other people in the world moved on, he seemed to be caught in this permanent Vietnam war era time warp, appealing to some but irrelevant to most. His writings conjured up this vision of an overweight, red faced whiteman, panama hat & white suit, sweating profusely, gin & tonic in hand, bouncing scantily clad coloured girls up & down on his knee.

One thing I can say with begrudging admiration, & with a little envy, that someone could write such tripe for so long & actually get paid for it. Definately something to his credit & I suppose that the joke is on us or at least the Bangkok Post.

[Ulysses G.]

Great journalist or not, everyone bought the Saturday paper to read - or complain - about Trink. One thing I always found strange was that the biggest whoremongers always hated him for being "dirty".

[Pierrot]

I used to read him faithfully and don't remember him ever advising unprotected sex. I actually stopped my subscription to the Post when they cut his former page to a tiny column. Some of you have poor memories or you have no idea what you are talking about.

I didn't realize at the time but when the "Trink Era" ended, the Thailand I had enjoyed so much previously, also lost much of its appeal.

When I first read his column back in 1976 he came accross as a sad anachronism then, a throwback to the sixties, the quintessential barfly trying to sound like he had something important to say. As most other people in the world moved on, he seemed to be caught in this permanent Vietnam war era time warp, appealing to some but irrelevant to most.

To most I'm not so sure, but to an increasing number, especially to the young guard of the PC issued from the opposition to the Vietnam War and the values ot that time, definitively yes.

Everything he wrote always seemed so much pointless rubbish, all stuff that any half wit with a modicum of a functioning brain could find out for themselves (this applies to stickman as well).

When I first read his column back in 1976 he came accross as a sad anachronism then, a throwback to the sixties, the quintessential barfly trying to sound like he had something important to say

You kind of make my point. But sadly for you, you'll just to need to change a few words and that's also what people in the 80's and 90's were thinking of your generation.

"The times they are a-changin" To the credit of this generation, something that never stopped to be true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ_XwLSN45I

[Pierrot]

Double post

This "flood control" is really killing me !

Edited March 22, 2009 by Pierrot

[IMA_FARANG]

Last week, knowing I was going to spend the day in a bus, I took a book from my bookshelf to read during my trip. It was a book from Jennifer Bliss about “The life and times of Bernard Trink, Bangkok’s Nite Owl”.

I don’t know if younger members are familiar with Mr Trink, but once you have read his column, you can’t forget him

For the people old enough to remember him (not that old actually, his last columns were in 1993, but were very different from the original ones), what did you think of his column ? I remember reading it with ambivalent feelings, believing he belongs to a a different time, long past, but at the same time appreciating his straight forward opinion that never sacrificed to the “politically correct” of our time.

I was around during his heyday. I used to read his articles whenever I could in the newspaper. I believe he was in the Bangkok Post newspaper, but it was a long time back.

I wouldn't say I always agreed with his views, but he was always interesting and usually provoking, if not always thought provoking. Trying to write an interesting column every week isn't easy. He did have his favorite bars on Patpong.

I heard from a lot of bar owner types that he was not too well liked, allegedly because he demanded "favors" from them to print good remarks about their bars. Again, some of the bar owners I knew then, I wouldn't have trusted being alone with in a dark room anyhow. I personally have no idea if his demanding "favors" was true or not. Like I said, some of the bar owners were not to be trusted. Some of the seemingly nicest bar owners treated their bargirls like s**t.

But personally "I don't give a Hoot" either way.

P.S. On a another sort-of-related topic.....Is there anyone still around on the forum who actually remembers Tiger and Tiger's bar? Or am I the last one?

Edited March 22, 2009 by IMA_FARANG

[johna]

I met Trink once in a bar on Suk soi 33, he was interviewing the owner of the bar who was nicknamed Cowboy (he always claimed that soi Cowboy was named after him)

Trink's column was boring, full of stupid advice with recommendations to, "check it out" for bars that were little better than dives.

There was never any serious writing about the problems bar owners and bar girls faced in this business.

His end motif "I don’t give a hoot" pretty much sums up his style of writing.

[webfact]

I met Trink once in a bar on Suk soi 33, he was interviewing the owner of the bar who was nicknamed Cowboy (he always claimed that soi Cowboy was named after him)

Trink's column was boring, full of stupid advice with recommendations to, "check it out" for bars that were little better than dives.

There was never any serious writing about the problems bar owners and bar girls faced in this business.

His end motif "I don’t give a hoot" pretty much sums up his style of writing.

Soi Cowboy was named after an African-American named T.G. Edwards, a retired airman. He opened his first bar in the late 70ties in that Soi. I never heard of he had a bar in Suk 33.

If he wore a cowboy hat, you certainly have met him.

[Boksida]

P.S. On a another sort-of-related topic.....Is there anyone still around on the forum who actually remembers Tiger and Tiger's bar? Or am I the last one?

I remember Tiger from when he could walk and when he couldn't and his bar (on Suriwongse if I remember correctly) and also Lucy's Tiger Den when his widow moved it to Silom. I also know quite a few other people of that era who are still around.

[IMA_FARANG]

I met Trink once in a bar on Suk soi 33, he was interviewing the owner of the bar who was nicknamed Cowboy (he always claimed that soi Cowboy was named after him)

Trink's column was boring, full of stupid advice with recommendations to, "check it out" for bars that were little better than dives.

There was never any serious writing about the problems bar owners and bar girls faced in this business.

His end motif "I don’t give a hoot" pretty much sums up his style of writing.

I met Cowboy, but he was in a sad way by that time. He definately was a Bangkok institution.

Rules:

Never drink free drinks at your own bar.

Never invite your "friends" for free drinks at your bar.

Never s****w your bookkeeper...especially if your wife is part owner of your bar.

[IMA_FARANG]

P.S. On a another sort-of-related topic.....Is there anyone still around on the forum who actually remembers Tiger and Tiger's bar? Or am I the last one?

I remember Tiger from when he could walk and when he couldn't and his bar (on Suriwongse if I remember correctly) and also Lucy's Tiger Den when his widow moved it to Silom. I also know quite a few other people of that era who are still around.

Yeah, I remember "Lucy's Tiger Den" and the free Chilli days.

I once saw him get a job for a oil rig roughneck type who was down on his luck in Bangkok, and needed a job. Tiger made a phone call, and got this guy an interview. He knew the company boss and vouched for the roughneck kid. The kid was hired on Tiger's say so.

[johna]

I met Trink once in a bar on Suk soi 33, he was interviewing the owner of the bar who was nicknamed Cowboy (he always claimed that soi Cowboy was named after him)

Trink's column was boring, full of stupid advice with recommendations to, "check it out" for bars that were little better than dives.

There was never any serious writing about the problems bar owners and bar girls faced in this business.

His end motif "I don’t give a hoot" pretty much sums up his style of writing.

Soi Cowboy was named after an African-American named T.G. Edwards, a retired airman. He opened his first bar in the late 70ties in that Soi. I never heard of he had a bar in Suk 33.

If he wore a cowboy hat, you certainly have met him.

Yes that's Cowboy, though I always thought he was called L T Edwards, he had a heart attack, and being retired air force was repatriated back to the US.

I heard later that he was doing very well back in the US

[PattayaParent]

The funny thing is that he was probably correct about AIDS being difficult to catch via hetrosexual intercourse (at least for the man), but no one ever admits it.

Nobody admits it because what purpose would it serve to do so? It would just encourage certain men to be more careless. The fact is that it is possible to get AIDS that way - for me that's enough - i'm not bothered about studying statistical figures on the chances - a 1% chance is too great a risk.

then there would be no grants or funding available to doctors to try to find a cause or a cure.

[PhilHarries]

Specious allegations.

Back that up.

It was common knowledge. One of the reasons he got sacked from the post.

His columns were crap anyway - unless you really cared what Noi from the Pink Pussy was having a birthday party.

Cookin' frap. Common knowledge? There's no such thing, only common predujices. The reason he got bumped from the Post was that the advertisers threatened to pull their dollars unless he stopped writing about real life. People these days have this strange idea that if you don't talk about an issue it will go away. And people bleat on about the "free press". No such thing, you will read what MegaCorp wants you to read. Now shut up and eat your MegaCorp breakfast crunchies.

As for his columns, he wrote what his audience wanted to hear about and very few people are interested in the next bonny baby show in Nakon Nowhere. A lot of people have this mental affliction where they just can't stop reading things they don't like then whinging about them, huMAN natURE as he would say.

btw I was still reading Trink in the Post when I left Thailand in early 2004.

I think he has a pay per view website, or he did a couple of years back.

[LooseCannon]

When I first read his column back in 1976 he came accross as a sad anachronism then, a throwback to the sixties, the quintessential barfly trying to sound like he had something important to say. As most other people in the world moved on, he seemed to be caught in this permanent Vietnam war era time warp, appealing to some but irrelevant to most.

To most I'm not so sure, but to an increasing number, especially to the young guard of the PC issued from the opposition to the Vietnam War and the values ot that time, definitively yes.

Luckily for me I was just young enough to miss out on being a potential conscript & possibly being sent by the Australian govt. to fight in Vietnam. When I was approaching the age where I would become elegible for conscription I certainly held an opinion as to whether I wanted to be a part of it & I make no apologies for being 'politically correct' in my opposition to it. Like all wars it is the working classes that are shunted off to fight it for the wealthy, with the sons of the 'monied classes' being able to 'defer' any service to their country by attending university.

But sadly for you, you'll just to need to change a few words and that's also what people in the 80's and 90's were thinking of your generation.

Nothing sad about it at all - I get called a sad anachronism at work nearly everyday, not in so many words of course, but more along the lines of 'silly old fart what would you know'.

When you are 20 years old 10 years is a long time, as you get older you realise that it is <deleted> all.

As someone in their very early 20's, Trink's column was a sad irrelevant anachronism, & it was from that perspective that I thought it was only stupid old men that had to go to go-go bars to have sex with Thai women.