What Was Thailand Like Years Ago

[nisakiman]

I arrived in Bangkok from Calcutta in November 1970, on a Thai Airways flight that I'd managed to get half price thanks to a dodgy student card I'd bought in Istanbul on my way through. It was hot! Even though Calcutta had been hot, it had been a dry heat. When I got off the plane and stepped on the tarmac (you walked to the terminal in those days) it felt like someone had thrown a hot, wet blanket over me. After the turmoil of customs and immigration, and courtesy of one of the touts, I found myself in a taxi bound for the Malaysia Hotel - new and airconditioned, special offer $1 for the first two nights and $2 per night thereafter.

It was aircon sure enough - bloody freezing in there! Which was quite delicious at first, but led to problems when you went out again. Must have been about 22C in the hotel and about 38C outside. Phew!

Within an hour of checking into my room, the in-house dope dealer was knocking on my door. "Wanna buy some Buddha Sticks?"

I can't remember how much he was selling them for, but I was shocked at the price, I remember that. I'd just been in Calcutta where you could buy a carrier-bag full of (crap) grass for next to nothing. I ummed and aahhed a bit, so he rolled a little spliff for me to sample.

Well, the price wasn't an issue any more. "I'll take ten", I told him. I appreciate quality, and this stuff was the mutz nutz. Stunning.

.....................................................

It's 1 am and I have a busy day tomorrow, and this is turning into a bit of a saga, so perhaps I'll continue at a later date. There's a lot to write about, and I'll be here until this time tomorrow if I carry on!

[JacChang]

LOL

I still remember the first mobile phone which was a black steel box. 1 feet x 1 feet x 0.5 feet

Kinda like those used in the army, maybe 5 kgs? Had to carry it around when going outside, man those were the days.

[cambtek]

Ah yes,thailand in the seventies.

I remember the blue fox and the malaysia and the atlanta hotel.

I remember the thermae and the grace hotel coffee shop and the sugar shack and mississippi queen in patpong.

The traffic and flooding was far worse.

The girls were 200 baht as i remember.

Soi 3 had a klong as did soi ekamai and there were other klongs everywhere.

Soi 3 had wooden houses,one with a sun bear tied up in the backyard.

Patong beach had one hotel,nai harn had johns bungalows in the centre of the beach.

Cha weng on koh samui had one set of newly built bungalows,built by two swedish seamen.

All one could hear all day was the sawing of wood and the banging of hammers as they built more bungalows.

Pattaya had the marine bar and some other bars and the water was clean and the beach nice.

And there were lots more smiles,just like cambodia today.

[Chivas]

Here are a couple of pictures of my village south of Korat. I took them at exactly the same place, 1963 and last month.

Yes the obvious difference but hardly 40 years plus !!

Would have said 5-10 years if guessing.

[biancajanemorris]

Thanks for sharing!

[cycloneJ]

Old and new - this is Tha Chalaep a small port on the Chanthaburi river 'then and now' - first picture in January 1937 of the SS Nibha taken by Robert L Pendleton (1890-1957)

Had no luck finding where this vessel went to/from.

Tha Chalaep is approx 6km inland from the coast at Laem Sing

and more recently

Tha Chalaep has been in local news recently with another proposal to develop coastal tourism with direct routes from here, Koh Chang and on to Sihanoukville, Vietnam.

Same concept as one that went nowhere in about 2009. Maybe this time?

At present TC has a base and a coastal patrol vessel for the Marine Police, and is also the base for the Marine Archaelogical dive boat.

Across the river is another pier at Samet Ngam (King Taksin's Shipyard in 1760s), at present an old WWII minesweeper (Algerine class, built Canada 1944) is being restored there, was once HMS Minstrel, then sold to Thai Navy in 1953 renamed as HTMS Phosamton, sunk at its moorings on the Chao Phraya in 2011, raised and towed here to be restored and used as an educational centre.

Edited March 1, 2013 by cycloneJ

[angora]

Dear All,

I have just come across this very interesting topic and I have a question: I am a German filmmaker, working on a historical documentary about Patpong for one year now. You mentioned a lot of interesting things like the Mississippi Queen, the Deer Hunter, Patrick Shrimp, etc. I have interviewed a lot of people who were part of Patpong in those times, like Patrick and Bernhard Trink, Dean Barrett, etc. I am still looking for old photo and/or film material about the times when Deer hunter was shooter and also later, like street scenes, bar scenes, etc. I f anyone of you has old material which he would like to contribute to my movie, that would be great. If you have any recommendation who to contact, would be also very welcome. Thanks very much,Dirk

[Friendly Stranger]

I surely missed all the fun as I got here in 02. However it was nice doing searches on the net for pics of the bar girls of the 80's and a couple from the 70's, it was really something. Also enjoyed some of the older pics doing similar searches of "old bangkok". I don't have the personal recollection as most of you've had but reading this thread has been a pleasure.

[oswald]

In the early 80's.

There were 25 baht to a US$

Petrol cost 8 baht a litre.

Fried rice was 10 baht for a good plate full.

Chang did not exist, Singha or Kloster was 30 baht a bottle in the bars

a coke was 5 baht a bottle.

Traffic in Bagkok was already h*ll, despite the "new" expressway from Bang Na.

The night life was wild, not like the watered down version today.

The new dual carriageway to Pattaya was being built and it took 3 hours to make the journey.

Jomtien beach was about 1km long, beyond that was all private land.

In 1985 Silom Road was knee deep in flood water for 5 days.

My house rent, just off Silom was 10K a month.

There was no cable or satellite TV, just a video rental shop on Suriwongse Road that

had lots of English films and TV series for rental.

There were odd American TV progammes with the English sound track on a Radio channel, but they

often forgot to switch the language back after the ads.

I wish I had come to LOS much earlier!!!

Ah yes, in the late sixties, the Baht was 20 to 1 USD and Singha was cheap. What really was nice that the bar ladies actually would drink a beer if you bought it for them, unlike the "Saigon tea" in Vietnam. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I arrived. We did our clubbing on Patpong Road and stayed in the Grace Hotel on Sukumvit Soli 3. The bar of choice was called Max's Lounge.

[scorecard]

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Mighty Mouse, on 09 Jan 2006 - 08:01, said:

My first trip to LOS was part of a package tour that also took in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines.
That was 1978 and it was my first trip outside of Australia.

In Australia I had lived through the free sex days of the seventies where an average looking guy only needed to snap his fingers to have a one night stand with the girl of his choice. In those days my fingers snapped quite a lot.

Bangkok was the second leg for our tour group and we were booked into the Indra Regent Hotel for four nights.

An older Australian acquaintance on mine was a part owner of the Kings Group of go-go bars on Patpong and he took me under his wing and showed me around.
There was no need to snap any fingers, swarms of girls were all over me. I thought that all of my Christmases had come at once. I was a kid in a candy shop.

Over the years, Patpong hasn't changed much, except for prices, but I do feel that most of the women there are now much harder than they were in the late 70's.
The development of Bangkok over the years is nothing short of amazing. The transport system, shopping centres, high rise hotels, business etc. has more than kept up with the times, in many respects it has exceeded it.

The following year I returned to Thailand but went to Pattaya and Phuket for the first time.
For me Pattaya was so much more relaxing as it had developed from a small fishing village and was being built around the beach scene.
Short pants, singlets and thongs were the dress of the day, as they are today.

Open beer bars took my fancy as I could actually have a quiet conversation with the girls rather than having to shout to be heard in the Bangkok go-go bars.
Bar fines were 100 baht and a girl for the night cost between 300 and 500 baht.
The AIDS scare did not exist in those days but other STD's were floating around.
Girls are girls, they are just as pretty today as they were twenty years ago. (More tattoos today though)
I often wonder where some of the girls from earlier years went to. Every now and then I see some of them walking around Pattaya with their kids in tow.

Pattaya's night scene centred around Walking Street (as it is now known) with mostly beer bars, the Marine Bar being the main beer bar. Marine disco was number one and a few go-go bars were operating. Outer areas were still developing and the bar scene was expanding. (and it seems still is)
Etty had just opened The Buffalo Bar on Third Road but it was considered too far away from the main action.
Take a look at Third Road today and the Buffalo Bar is right in the middle of that action.

The former Royal Garden Hotel was probably the main Pattaya Hotel but other high rise hotels were starting to spring up everywhere. Now the Royal Garden Shopping Arcade occupies the site.

Over the years, accommodation has improved in quality but room prices generally are still relatively cheap.
Most of the Indian tailors have now moved out of Walking Street (probably because or rising rents) and the number of beer bars has increased.
The big improvement is food outlets. So many restaurants now from which to have a meal.

When I first visited Phuket, there was only one high rise hotel with others in the process of being built. We stayed in beach bungalows. I virtually had the whole of Patong Beach to myself.
A small scattering of beer bars were available to quench the thirst (sexual thirst too) but I had to walk through the jungle to get to the next beer bar.
Today it, in my opinion, has been spoilt be over development.

Pattaya will always be my choice of ideal holiday destination. It still retains much of its primitive feel, but modern development will eventually overtake it.

Pattaya; my first visit was around 45 years ago (I have lived / worked here some 35 years), Pattaya was then just a quite tiny and quiet fishing village with a few simple restaurants and a few small simple Thai style hotels, and the people were so friendly and caring.

In those days, the road from Bangkok was not divided, there was little traffic and the last 30 kilometres (guessing) was dirt and when it rained it was impassable.

Edited July 18, 2014 by scorecard

[nanoth]

I spent 2 years in Bangkok from 1966 to 1968 as a lecturer at Thammassat University!

As a "farang",at that time,not only you were welcomed but everyone (adults,kids) wanted to know you,to speak with you...Happy times!

[soalbundy]

Everything was better in the past,even nostalgia.

[Utley]

My first trip to Thailand was in 1969, paid for by a dear uncle. No visa was required, the exchange rate was 20 baht to the dollar but overnight prices for social interaction was only 250 baht. The Royal Palace restoration project had just begun, there were quite a few canals and the city stunk to high heaven. Foreigners were an oddity and treated with deference, especially those of us with very short hair. Chiang Mai was the capital of the "golden triangle" controlled by war lords, the northeast was a place you didn't want to travel if you appreciated living and herbs could be had anywhere. As I recall, the only 3 things we were warned about was never, never disrespect the King or his Royal Family (even in jest), don't show the bottoms of your feet and don't drink the tap water. Otherwise party hardy for it may be your last chance.

[Westaurel]

Only 5-7 years ago Hua Hin was a quiet small thai city without big tourism and just a few old fat farangs walking.

Today's badly looking more as "Pattaya Noi" with a beer bars soi, many farang tourists on beaches and vendors selling all their usual shit merchandises you can see in every other touristic places. Just hope no mafia will arrive as in Sin City. But with army government it's better hopes than the precedent corrupted red government !

[akentryan]

One thing that has probably changed. Bar fines in Pattaya were 100 baht and 300-500 all night. The girl would clean your apartment, wash your clothes, and cook for you - I don't think that is a common occurence today. Walking Street was made up of a few bars and Marine Disco. I rented a very nice, furnished 3 BR 3 BA house across the road from what is now Bali Hai Pier. Had 8 khatoeys living under the house, Before that I was long-term at the Wandee Inn, now the Windee Inn, run by retired US GI Bob Carr. I used to keep a few thousand US dollars in his "safe" which I later discovered was a metal storage cabinet that stayed open most of the day. He called me down one day and asked if I had been missing any money from my stash. I told him that every time I counted the money it was a $100 or $200 off but I chalked it up to removals while under the influence. He said his clerk had been stealing money from the safe. He asked how much I thought I had lost and II responded "$500 or $600 I reckon". He reached in his pocket and counted out $500 and handed it to me. I know that wouldn't happen today. Been married to my Thai wife (not a bar girl but a lawyer) since 1992.

Comes from a shrimp-farming family of 12 kids from the South. Several sisters lived with us when they came to BKK and we had a house there. I have loaned money on several occasions to family members and have always been paid back. Great people in every respect. Every farang will have a different story - some have happy endings but far too many do not.

[talisman01]

My sister was working at the Br Embassy in Bangkok in the early 60s and she remembers the tram system and the general lack of traffic - light traffic as opposed to what it is like now - and how the Thai food was very different too. She also recalls visiting Pattaya when it was little more than a large village with nothing on the beach and no hotels. Sadly, she did not take photos in those days but more recently I have come across an excellent book comparing Bangkok photos of the long past with how it is now, fascinating stuff!

[JDGRUEN]

My first time in Thailand was (just counted it up) in 1967 ... damn ... 47 years ago. I came to be assigned to a Special Forces 'A' Detachment. I stayed for my full tour of thirteen months. I arrived at Don Mueang on a C-141 Starlifter - 4 engine USAF cargo plane - our seats faced backwards for safety... talk about being disoriented after 18 hours of flying... wow!. It seemed odd - carrying that special government passport and no one stamped it. I felt kinda cheated - not to have that souvenir. Anyway - I was assigned to an A-Team stationed atop a mountain ridge line next to a big reservoir called Nam Phung Dam... in the Phu Pan overlooking Sakon Nakhon. It is next to what is now Highway 213.

Back then - there were few if any paved roads north of what we called Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima). All the roads were nothing but red laterite dust and mud in the monsoon season - lots of mud. We worked with Thai Special Forces to help establish a Thai Government presence to counter the efforts by various armed Communist forces ('Kommiunit') to occupy that area of Isaan and convert them to their cause. We ran medical civic action patrols into isolated villages. These were Hill Tribes people - very friendly and helpful to us. In some isolated villages close to the Laotian Border the older women waved their hands in front of my eyes. I was told they wanted to see if I was blind since I had blue eyes and the only blue eyes they knew of were people with blue-gray eyes had cataracts. The children often ran around me rubbing my hairy arms - calling me 'ling'... I took no offense. I was told that in one village I was the first Caucasian they had ever seen. The women were quite short and used Betel Nut - sorta like snuff. High nicotine content contraction. Long term use made their lips deep red and their teeth quite black. I once saw black false teeth in a Ubon shop window - wish I had taken a photo.

I could write a book - and may well do it - if I could sit still long enough.

[Borzandy]

30 years ago the girls were very thin, and they didn't use "smart"phone in all the bars.

[soalbundy]

30 years ago i was young,and that is good no matter where you are

[ggt]

Korat Bar Scene...1968

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P463feJh13Y

[sgtsabai]

Try this link for an overview of the military operations in and around Thailand. There were no VC here, although Uncle Ho lived just outside Udonthani for awhile. There is a museum there. http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/jcs/article/view/292/465

[sgtsabai]

For what ever reason, I can't open the thaivisa pictures links. Those outside thaivisa no problem.

[firefox999uk]

All good stuff but am i going crackers or what......post dates go from Jan 2006 to present day

...or have I been thrown back in time....great stuff none the less.

ps...edit..just noticed the title is, old thread revisited...Sorry

Have a nice Day.

Edited July 25, 2014 by firefox999uk

[JDGRUEN]

Try this link for an overview of the military operations in and around Thailand. There were no VC here, although Uncle Ho lived just outside Udonthani for awhile. There is a museum there. http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/jcs/article/view/292/465

You are correct there were no VC in Thailand ... but there were what was called Communist Terrorists - CT in North East Thailand and in the North... It is well documented ... there were several significant engagements - including one that wiped them out ... but one has to research the real history ... As a matter of fact -- I saw some of these CT ... at Ban Lup Lao ... in the Phu Pan ... they were armed - they left the village as we entered ... There are many historical records of village chiefs and school teachers - and administrators being kidnapped or killed by the communist insurgents ... One just has to look in the right place for the information ...

Edited July 25, 2014 by JDGRUEN

[mok199]

i can deal with all the changes ,development,prices,traffic,but one thing has destroyed this country,''THE TOUR BUSES''......they have simply ruined life here on beach road...

[khunPer]

Been here (in Thailand) first time in 1987 as tourist on a pre planned two-week tour. Bangkok was an outstanding impression; especially Grand Palace and the temples, floating market were still some kind of attraction. Everywhere quite a number of foreigners…

Got 30% less baht in exchange of my homeland money back then (have been down there a couple of times since 2001). Prices seemed very low, but that looked at with tourist’s eyes. A private car with an English-speaking driver-guide – well, more speaking than English – was priced at 800 baht a day, booked through our 5-star hotel, I think we also paid for gasoline. Riverfront buffet dinner at Oriental was 300 baht (exclusive of wine or whatever you drink) – our party arrived in two tuk-tuks, not really genteel means of transportation. I do not recall exact prices for other stuff in Bangkok, prepaid accommodation incl. breakfast and one meal, so mainly out for lunch, which were cheap. We hired a private Chinese junkee for a party of 5 for dinner with traditional Thai dance at the Chao Prayah river, a bit expensive, but still affordable. Excursions to Ayuttaya and River Kwai, think a lunch were around 30 baht. As I was travelling with my Danish girlfriend and my parents and a friend, I did not see, neither look for, any Red Light areas, so no idea about that (other than from what I’ve later read) – however did notice that every day quite a number smart looking younger slim Thai ladies in thigh jeans and high heal shoes were waiting for some kind of appointment in the hotel lobby…

Chiang Mai was stunning and the reason I later dreamed about living in LOS and finally came back – however settled a bit closer to a beach. Quite a number of tourists in ‘87, some places too many, and some so-called attractions merely a tourist circus, which we left early. Rented a minibus with driver (no English), bit more expensive than a car in Bangkok, and had a rickshaw driver, who could speak little English, as guide – he was cycling my GF and me to an agency where we could rent a minibus, and when he realized we wished to drive far up north to an elephant camp in the jungle, he asked if he could join us, as he had always dreamed about going up there. Rickshaw trip for free and my GF said he had to pay a share of 50 baht for the tour (think it was based of half a days income), which he agreed to; however at the end we of course didn’t took his money and he and the minibus driver had lunch together with us at a nice restaurant up in the hills. Dining out in good restaurants were around 100 baht per person (no alcohol included) – but we were “Cheap Charlies” and did not wish to pay from 300 baht and up for a set-dinner at our hotels exclusive Chinese restaurant.

At that time “relaxing at the beach” meant Pattaya – Phuket became only known in my home country as a new and better beach holiday place about a year later. Pattaya at that time were already famous, or infamous, for it’s “nightlife”. However we stayed at Royal Cliff south of the town, so we only passed through, and some evenings driving a Song Thaew (baht bus) down there for a cosy local dinner. Again we hired a private Chinese junkie for a full day island beach trip, fairly cheap price and lunch bags provided free by the hotel. I do not recall any towers or tall buildings in the town (there might have been, but I did not notice them), rather endless rows of low mainly open huts with restaurants and bars loaded with shouting waving ladies when we drove by. Pretty surprised when I came back to Pattaya in 2004, 17 years later…

»Were the women more beautiful?«

I don’t think more, I can only reply “Yes” they were also beautiful then, but probably dressing a bit “old-fashioned” or traditional compared by today’s Western trend. For my taste especially the girls in Chiang Mai and the groups of students we met up Riwer Kwai and in Ayuttaya, who wished to train their English abilities by speaking with foreigners, must have made an impression, since my GF said: »Seems like you wouldn’t mind to bring a small one of these to Denmark?«

Edited July 25, 2014 by khunPer

[robert888d]

Less accidents, less traffic jams, less Russians, less drugs, less crime in general, and less expensive !

[Nignoy]

Less accidents, less traffic jams, less Russians, less drugs, less crime in general, and less expensive !

and very few yanks!!

[fabianfred]

Less accidents, less traffic jams, less Russians, less drugs, less crime in general, and less expensive !

and very few yanks!!

Yanks by the boatload when they parked an aircraft carrier off Pattaya...

[sgtsabai]

My wife's grandfather was one of those communists. As were many in his village. That generation is gone, along with their history. That village is quite prosperous, definitely not red shirt (although they made their presence known), and he did well, acquiring around 200 rai through hard work only to see half of it lost to a lake with about 2,000 baht for payment. The past is not talked about today. He is quite old, born in 1921 and very respected. Even though in his last years, one can see the power that was in him. He is the one member of the family that liked me from the beginning. He looked me direct in the eyes and told my wife to be, I know him, he is a warrior. In reality he was a Nationalist as were many, if not most. Those dirty rotten Nationalists were the only ones that continued warfare, yea you would call them terrorist now-were patriots then, against the Japanese. One mans terrorist is anothers freedom fighter. And yea, some of those guys were bad guys no matter how you look at it and would have been no matter what side they were on. Semper Fi-VN '66/67.