What Was Thailand Like During The Sixties And Seventies?

[garro]

What was Thailand like during the sixties and seventies. It sounds like some type of golden age. Was it?

[BLUEEYEDTHAI]

Let me start with what I can remember for sure.you did'nt go to prison for a joint. A large bowl of gooteo was 5bht.Four people could eat a very nice meal for about 100bht.When i first went to pattaya in 71 it was a sleepy fishing village,no walking street,and if memory serves there was only a couple of what you would call very basic hotels.there were a few very primative bungalos right on the beach,can'nt remember the cost.the best beer I thought was called amoreit(sp?).Almost all the girls were the local variety the Issan invasion had not started. the details get pretty fuzzy now.ican say i have no desire to visit the new and improved pattaya Iwould prefer to have my sanitized memories.maybe someone who was a little more sober can give you more detailed info.

[garro]

Let me start with what I can remember for sure.you did'nt go to prison for a joint. A large bowl of gooteo was 5bht.Four people could eat a very nice meal for about 100bht.When i first went to pattaya in 71 it was a sleepy fishing village,no walking street,and if memory serves there was only a couple of what you would call very basic hotels.there were a few very primative bungalos right on the beach,can'nt remember the cost.the best beer I thought was called amoreit(sp?).Almost all the girls were the local variety the Issan invasion had not started. the details get pretty fuzzy now.ican say i have no desire to visit the new and improved pattaya Iwould prefer to have my sanitized memories.maybe someone who was a little more sober can give you more detailed info.

No overcharging on the baht bus then?

[Dakhar]

Much like your home country was like in 1901

[Xangsamhua]

Blue-eyed's pretty right, I think, about Pattaya. We stayed in a beachside bungalow at Na Kluea in '74 and it was hardly a village, though I remember the market. Had to drive into town to come across hotels, shops etc and tourist facilities.

In Korat in 71-72 we could get a heaped plate of nice moist khao pad with a runny duck egg on top for 5 baht. A real meal. USAF were in town, but airmen not really prominent other than at the bars and restaurants (near the station, I think) in the evenings, but you could go and park your motorcycle on the road under the flight path and watch the F4s (?) coming in from Vietnam. Very impressive.

Wat Phanom Wan (near Korat), which I think is now a national park, was a nice place to go. After leaving the main road you'd ride on the ridges between the rice fields for a while before getting to the wat. Every time I went there was no one else there, except on one occasion a monk was sitting nearby.

The Thanom-Prapass-Narong junta was in control in the early seventies, and to leave the province you had to get permission from the governor (in reality this was just a matter of signing a book at the school I was in). I'd left before the '73 student uprising, but followed it from a nearby country, as well as all the idealism in writing the new constitution after the military clique had been toppled.

Bangkok, while nothing like as big as now, still seemed like a big polluted city. Nevertheless, you could walk from Chitlom to Asoke along a nice tree-lined road without being overwhelmed by heat or fumes. Silom was a nice road, too. No big pylons for the overhead railway, so it could be quite sunny, and shady under the trees. The Bangkok Nursing Home, where our first was born, was an old colonial bungalow set in lovely gardens. You can still see it from the rear windows at BNH. The Erawan Hotel was also a bungalow-style hotel.

[garro]

Blue-eyed's pretty right, I think, about Pattaya. We stayed in a beachside bungalow at Na Kluea in '74 and it was hardly a village, though I remember the market. Had to drive into town to come across hotels, shops etc and tourist facilities.

In Korat in 71-72 we could get a heaped plate of nice moist khao pad with a runny duck egg on top for 5 baht. A real meal. USAF were in town, but airmen not really prominent other than at the bars and restaurants (near the station, I think) in the evenings, but you could go and park your motorcycle on the road under the flight path and watch the F4s (?) coming in from Vietnam. Very impressive.

Wat Phanom Wan (near Korat), which I think is now a national park, was a nice place to go. After leaving the main road you'd ride on the ridges between the rice fields for a while before getting to the wat. Every time I went there was no one else there, except on one occasion a monk was sitting nearby.

The Thanom-Prapass-Narong junta was in control in the early seventies, and to leave the province you had to get permission from the governor (in reality this was just a matter of signing a book at the school I was in). I'd left before the '73 student uprising, but followed it from a nearby country, as well as all the idealism in writing the new constitution after the military clique had been toppled.

Bangkok, while nothing like as big as now, still seemed like a big polluted city. Nevertheless, you could walk from Chitlom to Asoke along a nice tree-lined road without being overwhelmed by heat or fumes. Silom was a nice road, too. No big pylons for the overhead railway, so it could be quite sunny, and shady under the trees. The Bangkok Nursing Home, where our first was born, was an old colonial bungalow set in lovely gardens. You can still see it from the rear windows at BNH. The Erawan Hotel was also a bungalow-style hotel.

You paint a nice picture. I sort of wish that I could have seen it myself.

[Ulysses G.]

the best beer I thought was called amoreit(sp?).

Amerit was really good - on par with Heineken and Beer Lao, but when Carlsburg and Heineken were introduced here, they went out of business.

[jerrylee]

What was Thailand like during the sixties and seventies. It sounds like some type of golden age. Was it?

1968 Thailand: there were lots and lots of geckos everywhere, all over the place, and pitch black after dark, not a farang face to be seen beyond Asoke ...

[LeungKen]

You'll find a few photos here garro :-

http://images.google.co.th/imgres?imgurl=h...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

and here :-

http://images.google.co.th/imgres?imgurl=h...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

.

Edited July 17, 2009 by LeungKen

[Lancelot]

Maybe a bit like Laos is now?!?

[Pakboong]

The people were less educated than they are now.

[ScubaBuddha]

Blue-eyed's pretty right, I think, about Pattaya. We stayed in a beachside bungalow at Na Kluea in '74 and it was hardly a village, though I remember the market. Had to drive into town to come across hotels, shops etc and tourist facilities.

In Korat in 71-72 we could get a heaped plate of nice moist khao pad with a runny duck egg on top for 5 baht. A real meal. USAF were in town, but airmen not really prominent other than at the bars and restaurants (near the station, I think) in the evenings, but you could go and park your motorcycle on the road under the flight path and watch the F4s (?) coming in from Vietnam. Very impressive.

Wat Phanom Wan (near Korat), which I think is now a national park, was a nice place to go. After leaving the main road you'd ride on the ridges between the rice fields for a while before getting to the wat. Every time I went there was no one else there, except on one occasion a monk was sitting nearby.

The Thanom-Prapass-Narong junta was in control in the early seventies, and to leave the province you had to get permission from the governor (in reality this was just a matter of signing a book at the school I was in). I'd left before the '73 student uprising, but followed it from a nearby country, as well as all the idealism in writing the new constitution after the military clique had been toppled.

Bangkok, while nothing like as big as now, still seemed like a big polluted city. Nevertheless, you could walk from Chitlom to Asoke along a nice tree-lined road without being overwhelmed by heat or fumes. Silom was a nice road, too. No big pylons for the overhead railway, so it could be quite sunny, and shady under the trees. The Bangkok Nursing Home, where our first was born, was an old colonial bungalow set in lovely gardens. You can still see it from the rear windows at BNH. The Erawan Hotel was also a bungalow-style hotel.

You paint a nice picture. I sort of wish that I could have seen it myself.

Wow that was neat. I felt like I was in a movie in my head. (That happens a lot)

Here is what an acquaintance of mine had to say about Patong and Bangkok in the 80's:

"The first time I went to Patong we stayed at a thatched bungalow on the north end of town. I think it is still there. It sure was alot simpler all over the island and Thailand in general.I can remember being stuck in unbelievable traffic moving only several blocks in a half hour in Bangkok. The smog from leaded fuel was so thick that if you stood on an overhead walkway, you could only see several blocks. You could taste the lead in the air."

I came across a great link a while back. It's a blog done by a guy who lived in Patong in the late 70's and 80's. He tells stories of all the going's ons, and with pictures. He still updates it. Be sure to check out the archives in the right hand column. Warning, it's very addicting.

http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php?blog=22

SB

[ScubaBuddha]

The people were less educated than they are now.

Technically impossible Pakboong.

[ballbreaker]

In 70-75 Nana hotel cost 100 baht a night as did a friend for the night.

Could walk the sidewalks of Bangkok without having to share with motorbike traffic.

Lived in Ubon during the time and made many trips throughout Issan on Honda CL350. I will always have fond memories of arriving at my destination and before checking into hotel get a bath, massage and tubes cleaned out all for 100 baht at massage parlor.

Although there were very few cars on the road back then I found it much more dangerous traveling rural Thailand. Not only did you have to worry about bad drivers but also water buffalo's and people just walking out in front of you and people sleeping on the road at night.

[anothertorres]

i'm gonna go with Miami, circa 1901. and unicorns, there used to be unicorns here that would be issued to each farang to convey them about the magical Siam.

[Meridian007]

You'll find a few photos here garro :-

http://images.google.co.th/imgres?imgurl=h...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

and here :-

http://images.google.co.th/imgres?imgurl=h...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

.

Those are great photos! Does anyone else have any? More old photos of Bangkok would be great, it's interesting to see the changes! I remember someone posting their photos of Pattaya from the same time period, but I can't remember the thread.

[garro]

You'll find a few photos here garro :-

http://images.google.co.th/imgres?imgurl=h...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

and here :-

http://images.google.co.th/imgres?imgurl=h...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

.

Thanks for that.

[wamberal]

I first visited BKK in the seventies, during the military rule. The things I remember about BKK - the little birds in Silom, the Imperial Hotel in Wireless Road (great place to stay, no hassles about bringing girls back to the room, and there was a cocktail party a couple of times a week, with lots of free drinks and finger food for long-staying guests), 100 Baht lunch buffets in all the big hotels, except the Oriental. And I have very fond memories of the Country and Western Bar on the corner of Soi 19. Really nice girls, no bikinis, they wore proper dresses, and the boss was a human being. Lots of the girls married farangs.

One interesting fact is that in those days Thailand never filled its emigration quota to the USA, so just about any Thai who wanted to emigrate to the States could do so.

[InSiSongkram]

Great thread some nice comments more more....

[dr_Pat_Pong]

the best beer I thought was called amoreit(sp?).

Amerit was really good - on par with Heineken and Beer Lao, but when Carlsburg and Heineken were introduced here, they went out of business.

well AMARIT to be picky

[Harcourt]

What a great thread!

Can this be pinned up the top so that if there is a lull in the reminisces, the thread won't get lost?

[wamberal]

Also, I forgot, HM The King occasionally fronted up to play clarinet with a Jazz group in one of the cafes in Pat Pong, on Sunday nights, IIRC.

[Birdman]

What a great thread!

Can this be pinned up the top so that if there is a lull in the reminisces, the thread won't get lost?

You will like that:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thailand-Years-t56390.html

[beerchang]

Also, I forgot, HM The King occasionally fronted up to play clarinet with a Jazz group in one of the cafes in Pat Pong, on Sunday nights, IIRC.

You're not kidding are you? That must have been an amazing thing to see. This thread I like. And some of the links to those pics, great stuff.

Good idea Garro.

[citizen33]

Also, I forgot, HM The King occasionally fronted up to play clarinet with a Jazz group in one of the cafes in Pat Pong, on Sunday nights, IIRC.

You're not kidding are you? That must have been an amazing thing to see. This thread I like. And some of the links to those pics, great stuff.

Good idea Garro.

This website has a 'history' section relating to bar areas with a few photographs. I found Klong Toey an interesting case. It will also tell you how the current farang areas like Pat Pong originated.

http://www.bangkokeyes.com/

P.S. I think it is probably okay to post this link to a non-rival site, but if the moderators disagree please remove.

Edited July 17, 2009 by citizen33

[klikster]

Early '65, 5 blissful days in Bangkok on R & R from 'Nam. Taxis had meters, taxi drivers were required to wear hats. It was comical as the would alternately don headgear when approaching a police box then removing if after they passed.

I wasn't drinking, but I remember a bar on Petchburi Rd named 'Lotus Bar' was just down the road from a fancy looking EM club. The lotus didn't have bar fines, but they did have a woman with a low cut dress and ample bosom who didn't want me to buy her a drink, yet she couldn't leave until 23:00.

I recall an ice cream parlor that turned into a bar at night. 'Thunderball' had just been released. My buddy and I took 2 damsels for pizza and then the movie. Biggest darn pizza I think I have ever seen.

We climbed to the very top of Wat Arun. The floating market was really a market then.

We stayed at a new 'motel style' accom (not the current motel style) near Don Muang Airport. The trip to Bangkok was like a drive through the countryside.

The biggest problem I had was trying to find shoes larger than size 9 .. and convincing the masseuse at a Turkish bath that I really did want to spend another hour in that fantastic bathtub .. okay, another pink ..

When I got back to camp I got a letter from the woman with the low cut dress telling me to be careful .. and not butterfly too much.

[Mobi]

Also, I forgot, HM The King occasionally fronted up to play clarinet with a Jazz group in one of the cafes in Pat Pong, on Sunday nights, IIRC.

You're not kidding are you? That must have been an amazing thing to see. This thread I like. And some of the links to those pics, great stuff.

Good idea Garro.

Sorry to be a killjoy, but someone's memories are playing tricks with them.

Yes, there used to be a jazz jam session in the Napoleon every Sunday, and it was well attended by farangs and Thais alike. Many of the Thai musicians were not professional musicians but played to a high standard. Most of the Jazz played was traditional Jazz, and, so sorry, there was never any sign of HM.

In those days he was just as revered and exhaulted as he is today, and there is no way on God's earth that he would appear in a Patpong pub. If he had, they would have closed off the whole area, and you woudn't have got in the door for military and Royal police. In any event trad jazz was not HM's forte.

In his younger days, HM used to jam with a number of famous American jazz musicians, and there was even records made of his own jazz compositions. But that was all done within the confines of the Royal Palace, and not, erm... in Patpong.

For those who remember the Napoleon, you may recall the resident female singer - Khun Tan. A wonderful jazz singer who had a throat operation and sadly her singing career was cut short. She subsequently came to work for me and a colleague as a secretary in our recording studio, as she was desperate for work when her voice gave out.

Talking of Royalty, my colleague and I were once invited to record M.R. Usni Pramoj (son of Seni Pramoj, and nephew of Kukrit Pramoj, both former Prime Ministers, and with strong royal lineage)), conducting the Bangkok symphony Orchestra at some minor Palace in Bangkok, and even there, the security before we were allowed in to do our job was unbelievable.

More reminiscences later.

[ScubaBuddha]

I think we should all go watch Emmanuelle (1974) and Black Emanuelle in Bangkok (1976) as I believe both were filmed in the LOS. Great films

Edited July 17, 2009 by Scubabuddha

[p_brownstone]

Ah yes – the Napoleon Bar. Certainly brings back memories of when I first came here in 1971. Great place for lunch – Sandwiches on French Bread, pleasant waitresses and the scion of the Patpong clan at his usual table just inside the door well sozzled by 12.00 mid-day, every day. Never went to the Jazz Jam sessions but I believe Clarinet was the British Dispensary’s Doctor Paddy Dixon, certainly not HM!

The Bars and Nightclubs on Petchburi Road were almost exclusively the preserve of US Servicemen – Patpong was more the place where Expats gathered.

A picture of Pattaya Beach Road in a Link provided earlier shows “the Big Tree” – smack in the middle of the road at the junction there, the original Dolf Riks restaurant was on the corner. They eventually had to cut the tree down because drunken clots were always driving into it.

The beers available were almost exclusively Singha and Amarit – although outside Bangkok and other main cities it was hard to find anything but Singha ……. which I guess is why I have been drinking that for nearly 40 years

The Bar on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 19 was The Joker Club. Downstairs was a Gogo place run by Mukta, with the dancers in what today would be considered VERY unsexy costumes – something like a Bikini your Mum would wear – and ankle length high heeled boots. Dancing was rather like Texas Line Dancing, rather than what we would call “Gogo” but something of an innovation then. Upstairs was a very popular Country and Western bar with a resident Band playing Merle Haggard, Johnnie Cash etc. etc.. All Americans except the Philipino Lead Guitar.

Ah – and yes, The Balcony Bar on New Road near the Oriental Hotel, with Tony Aguillo on piano and vocals.

Patrick

[Nignoy]

Wow I missed a thread of how thailand used to be I have shed loads of Black and white photo,s from my time in thailand in the early 60,s, nightmare bridges in the north eastern provinces, 100dollars US for a taxi from Don Muang to Phuket for 4 of us and the driver stayed with us for a week,the Usaaf taking over Korat airbase, and waking up to find the departingNew Zealand forces had stencilled Dayglo orange Kiwis on all vehicles and planes, the opening of Barbos Bar the first bar in pattaya with a concrete floor and refridgeration,the lasting friendships that were made and still contiue today, watching an aussie sapper divining for water for a new well in the village , being shown the carnal delights of village life , without having to pay for a sick buffalo aftermy 3 years was up being tattooed by the puyai baan and given a 50sahlung gold chain to remind me of myfriends in the village,here are a few photo,s

1/pattaya beach, 2/Aussie water diviner, 3/No toilets but a 9 hole golf course 4/Another Knackered Bridge 5/ A drive along pattaya beach