Where To Find Old Telegraph Equipment To Buy

[marc69]

Well, the title says it all. I am currently in BKK and will also be visiting CM. I have a friend back in Europe who as a hobby collects old telegraph equipment. I thought it would be a nice surprise for him if I could find some equipment to buy here in Thailand. I understand it is an odd question but I am hoping some one in TV could tell me where I might be able to find such an old equipment. Thanks.

[simon43]

Probably depends upon your specific definition of 'telegraph'. I sometimes collect old radio receivers (domestic, medium wave etc), but have not really found any shops that deal in this type of equipment in 8 years of living here. The best option seems to be to trawl around some of the secondhand shops, but from experience, the small 'finds' that one discovers command a price far higher than the value, (because the shop owner just picks a number off the top of his head I think)

Simon

[marc69]

Thanks for the info, Simon. I talked to a Thai friend and she suggested checking Chatuchak market but she was not sure either if I could find anything there.

I attach a picture to specify what I am looking for.

[simon43]

OK, telegraph morse code keys. Have to say that I've never found these in any shops. Chatuchak market is a good suggestion, but expect to be disappointed.

Simon

[PattayaParent]

Chatuchak would be a good start.

There used to be places with antique stuff like that and if they don't have what you want could maybe point you in the right direction.

I'd take aThai speaker though.

[roamer]

You would have to get very lucky to get something like that in Chatuchak, I've never seen it and that counts for a lot believe me. The reason I say that is that its the sort of item I collect and on many visits to Chatuchak its not something I have encountered. Years ago there were one or two places in Chinatown but not these days. Your actually in the wrong country, India is a good hunting ground. Ebay of course but you have to pay for it,

[marc69]

You would have to get very lucky to get something like that in Chatuchak, I've never seen it and that counts for a lot believe me. The reason I say that is that its the sort of item I collect and on many visits to Chatuchak its not something I have encountered. Years ago there were one or two places in Chinatown but not these days. Your actually in the wrong country, India is a good hunting ground. Ebay of course but you have to pay for it,

Thanks for the info, roamer. The friend of mine who is interested in collecting these was talking about a yearly exhibition somewhere in Germany where people with similar interests gather. This was supposed to be some time around mid June and he was planning to go there with his family.

Since you also collect the same sort of items, I wonder if you are aware of any similar exhibitions in Thailand.

[roamer]

You would have to get very lucky to get something like that in Chatuchak, I've never seen it and that counts for a lot believe me. The reason I say that is that its the sort of item I collect and on many visits to Chatuchak its not something I have encountered. Years ago there were one or two places in Chinatown but not these days. Your actually in the wrong country, India is a good hunting ground. Ebay of course but you have to pay for it,

Thanks for the info, roamer. The friend of mine who is interested in collecting these was talking about a yearly exhibition somewhere in Germany where people with similar interests gather. This was supposed to be some time around mid June and he was planning to go there with his family.

Since you also collect the same sort of items, I wonder if you are aware of any similar exhibitions in Thailand.

Certainly not aware of anything like that in Thailand. I don't believe that Thailand has ever had much of a telegraph history so that is probably why there is so little of this stuff about as compared to Malaysia or India. Memorabilia collecting in Thailand tends to exist mostly for Thai or Chinese artifacts I'm afraid.

[stander]

It might be worth looking at railway stations, I know here in Hua Hin there is a maintenance section and there is all sorts of old railway communication equipment.

[marc69]

It might be worth looking at railway stations, I know here in Hua Hin there is a maintenance section and there is all sorts of old railway communication equipment.

Thanks, sounds like a very good idea.

[marc69]

I don't believe that Thailand has ever had much of a telegraph history so that is probably why there is so little of this stuff about as compared to Malaysia or India. ...

Well, have a look at the picture which I have attached a couple of posts before this. It seems that the first telegraph in Thailand started as early as 1875 and the last telegraph was sent in 2008. That's a fairly long history.

[lungbing]

The last telegraph was indeed sent in 2008, and there were thousands sent on the last day too.

Do try the GPO (General Post Office) on New Road Bangkok because that's where the last telegraph was sent from and they may, just may, have a stock room of old equipment.

There is a postal museum in some major cities throughout the country and the one in Khon Kaen has a

morse key used for telegraphs on display. The telegraph office was part of Thailand Post I think.

[kissdani]

I don't believe that Thailand has ever had much of a telegraph history so that is probably why there is so little of this stuff about as compared to Malaysia or India. ...

Well, have a look at the picture which I have attached a couple of posts before this. It seems that the first telegraph in Thailand started as early as 1875 and the last telegraph was sent in 2008. That's a fairly long history.

Yes, there was one line in service. Look also on the population grow in Thailand. Nowadays there are 67 million. 1960 it were only 27 million. I don't know how much it were during the time of your concern, but for sure even lower. And the next question is how well was the communication infrastructure developed during that time.

Will be not easy to find, that goes also for other vintage or nostalgia items, something like old radios, electric fans or bakelite telephones for example. The much lower population and the percentage of people who could afford to buy these things back in the old days makes it hard to find.

That makes Thailand actually to a sellers market, you could import such old stuff to Thailand and sell it with a profit, rather than find any good deal and unexplored field here.

There are thousands of pubs who love to put some old things on display as decoration item. Keep your eyes open, maybe you get lucky there and can make a deal, because what you are looking maybe don't look that spectacular, but the moment you ask makes it maybe to a very valuable and expensive item.

Next to Malaysia or India, Burma could be a good destination to find what you are looking for. For the same reason, because it was a colony. And in Burma the stuff maybe better preserved and not 'harvested' by other collectors.

Good luck and happy hunting.

[roamer]

I don't believe that Thailand has ever had much of a telegraph history so that is probably why there is so little of this stuff about as compared to Malaysia or India. ...

Well, have a look at the picture which I have attached a couple of posts before this. It seems that the first telegraph in Thailand started as early as 1875 and the last telegraph was sent in 2008. That's a fairly long history.

Maybe I should have put it more clearly. Thailand like virtually every country in the world had a telegraph system, however my understanding is that in terms of use it was rarely used in the days when this type of what is now very collectible equipment had its hey day. Communications were largely based along the railway lines and it was a very rural population with a centralised government, such circumstances do not lend themselves to large amounts of telegraphy stations criss-crossing the country. Certainly in later years the use of telegraph equipment increased markedly but the equipment associated with it is not what most collectors would be interested in.

Kissdani got it absolutely right in his post. Places like Burma with their colonial history, likewise Malaysia & India, are the hunting grounds for these type of items. On a recent trip I took a late 50's record player that a Thai friend had bought on Ebay and had delivered to me, this stuff is very hard to find in Thailand, doesn't work the way you might think. Good luck.

[marc69]

Thanks to everyone for the info. I will check out a couple of places in Thailand which have been suggested by the posters. I realize that chances of finding anything here are slim but if I have any success I will certainly report it here.

Cheers,

Marc

[Thanyaburi Mac]

If you're in C. Mai, suggest you go down to the main post office, find the manager, and ask if he knows any source for a telegraph key. Who knows, they may still have some in the back room gathering dust. That service just closed down in Thailand a couple years ago.

Mac

http://thailand.prd.go.th/view_inside.php?id=3390

Telegraph Service Closes after 133 Years (01/05/2008)

After 133 years, Thailand closed the telegraph service yesterday in a ceremony which saw several thousand people bid it farewell. "The last chapter of 133 years of the Thai telegraph will be in the memory of Thais forever,'' was the last message sent by telegraph, by Information and Communications Technology Minister Mun Patanotai from the General Post Office. It was sent to 40,000 people who had reserved a final telegram. The number of telegrams sent across the country in the final week of the service rose to 50,000 -- the total usually sent in six months.