The Hippie Trail......

[harrry]

Charles Sobhraj

was probably the biggest danger when I was here....so non Thais have always been a problem hee.

Charles Sobhraj's exploits on the Hippie Trail and later in Bangkok, based at the Malaysia Hotel and Kanit House, Soi Saladang are a fascinating story.

Well told by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke in their book, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj.

As far as I know he's still in jail in Katmandu, doing time for one of the dozens of killings he's been suspected of.

His activities in Bangkok are covered extensively in the 1979 Neville/Clarke book. They had access to primary sources; people who knew him.

In particular the young French couple Nadine and Remy Gires who were very close to him in the mid '70s when they had apartments in Kanit House.

The book is especially interesting because it details the case made against Sobhraj for multiple murders in Thailand by Herman Knippenberg, then Third Secretary at the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

He began by investigating the disappearance of a Dutch couple whose burned bodies were later found near Pattaya.

With the help of the Gires and others, Knippenberg was able to present evidence to the Keystone Kops - excuse me, i mean the Thai Police, that led to arrest warrants being issued for several murders.

But by that time Sobhraj had fled to India - only to be arrested there in 1976 for other killings.

His 1986 escape from Tihar Prison in Delhi and rearrest soon after in Goa was thought to be an attempt to extend his jail time in India until a 20 year statute of limitations expired on an international warrant for his arrest in Thailand.

I was at the Malasia Hotel at the time...and think I knew one of the victims slightly.

[nisakiman]

I hitchiked through Europe back in 1968 with a mate and his girlfriend. I hitched on my own and we used to arrange to meet up at campsites along the way. First to arrive would wait until the other party turned up. Our destination was India but we were in no rush and I remember spending a month on the island of Cofu on a beach. No electricity and drinks were kept cold down a well at the local bar. We could see in the distance along the coast that there were hotels being constructed and the locals were quite excited at the prospect of finally getting electricity. We liked it better without electricity.....a novelty to us, I suppose.

When we reached Athens it was decided between my mate and me that his girlfriend wasn't the right material for travelling 'rough' and we managed to send her home by putting her on the magic bus that went direct to London. It was quite a relief to be shot of her. We continued on to Istanbul and met up with quite a few travellers at the Pudding shop that were returning home from India. There were several horror stories being told to us about the locals on route burning your hair if it was long (which ours was) enough for us to decide not go any further east. We turned back and hitched up to Scandinavia instead.

I regretted not getting to India but some year's later

and travelled to countries such as Iran, Iraq, Syria and Jordan. So my lust for travelling through Turkey and beyond was eventually satisfied still sporting long hair so I think those horror stories told to us were somewhat exagerated!!

Ha! That's a couple of things we have in common! It was Corfu that I stayed for three months in '67. I got a ferry ticket from Brindisi to Patras, and the ticket allowed you to disembark in Corfu for a couple of days and then continue your journey to Patras on another ferry of the same line. I got off for a couple of days, and was still there three months later. And in fact, that's where I live now, and have done for the past ten years.

"...(mid 70's) I had become a long distance lorry driver..."

I lived in Australia most of the '70s, And I was doing just that - interstate driving!

I've been fiddling with photobucket to see if I can post thumbnails. This is my first attempt - I hope it works! If it does, I'll put up some more photos.

Hmmm. Not working very well. Some more work needed!

Edited February 25, 2013 by nisakiman

[CMHomeboy78]

Charles Sobhraj

was probably the biggest danger when I was here....so non Thais have always been a problem hee.

Charles Sobhraj's exploits on the Hippie Trail and later in Bangkok, based at the Malaysia Hotel and Kanit House, Soi Saladang are a fascinating story.

Well told by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke in their book, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj.

As far as I know he's still in jail in Katmandu, doing time for one of the dozens of killings he's been suspected of.

His activities in Bangkok are covered extensively in the 1979 Neville/Clarke book. They had access to primary sources; people who knew him.

In particular the young French couple Nadine and Remy Gires who were very close to him in the mid '70s when they had apartments in Kanit House.

The book is especially interesting because it details the case made against Sobhraj for multiple murders in Thailand by Herman Knippenberg, then Third Secretary at the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

He began by investigating the disappearance of a Dutch couple whose burned bodies were later found near Pattaya.

With the help of the Gires and others, Knippenberg was able to present evidence to the Keystone Kops - excuse me, i mean the Thai Police, that led to arrest warrants being issued for several murders.

But by that time Sobhraj had fled to India - only to be arrested there in 1976 for other killings.

His 1986 escape from Tihar Prison in Delhi and rearrest soon after in Goa was thought to be an attempt to extend his jail time in India until a 20 year statute of limitations expired on an international warrant for his arrest in Thailand.

I was at the Malasia Hotel at the time...and think I knew one of the victims slightly.

Did you know Ajay Chowdury by any chance? He was Sobhraj's right-hand man; staying at the Malaysia to steer marks to Kanit House.

I don't think he's ever been caught.

I didn't get to Bangkok until October '78 so I missed the party.

[harrry]

Charles Sobhraj

was probably the biggest danger when I was here....so non Thais have always been a problem hee.

Charles Sobhraj's exploits on the Hippie Trail and later in Bangkok, based at the Malaysia Hotel and Kanit House, Soi Saladang are a fascinating story.

Well told by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke in their book, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj.

As far as I know he's still in jail in Katmandu, doing time for one of the dozens of killings he's been suspected of.

His activities in Bangkok are covered extensively in the 1979 Neville/Clarke book. They had access to primary sources; people who knew him.

In particular the young French couple Nadine and Remy Gires who were very close to him in the mid '70s when they had apartments in Kanit House.

The book is especially interesting because it details the case made against Sobhraj for multiple murders in Thailand by Herman Knippenberg, then Third Secretary at the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

He began by investigating the disappearance of a Dutch couple whose burned bodies were later found near Pattaya.

With the help of the Gires and others, Knippenberg was able to present evidence to the Keystone Kops - excuse me, i mean the Thai Police, that led to arrest warrants being issued for several murders.

But by that time Sobhraj had fled to India - only to be arrested there in 1976 for other killings.

His 1986 escape from Tihar Prison in Delhi and rearrest soon after in Goa was thought to be an attempt to extend his jail time in India until a 20 year statute of limitations expired on an international warrant for his arrest in Thailand.

I was at the Malasia Hotel at the time...and think I knew one of the victims slightly.

Did you know Ajay Chowdury by any chance? He was Sobhraj's right-hand man; staying at the Malaysia to steer marks to Kanit House.

I don't think he's ever been caught.

I didn't get to Bangkok until October '78 so I missed the party.

To tell the truth I was too busy enjoying the wonderful world of educational entertainment provided by a couple of rather nice thai girls so did not take too much notice of anything else....It was the time the song was a hit on constant rotation on the radio and you would never guess how well the rythm synchronised.

[theblether]

Charles Sobhraj

was probably the biggest danger when I was here....so non Thais have always been a problem hee.

Charles Sobhraj's exploits on the Hippie Trail and later in Bangkok, based at the Malaysia Hotel and Kanit House, Soi Saladang are a fascinating story.

Well told by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke in their book, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj.

As far as I know he's still in jail in Katmandu, doing time for one of the dozens of killings he's been suspected of.

His activities in Bangkok are covered extensively in the 1979 Neville/Clarke book. They had access to primary sources; people who knew him.

In particular the young French couple Nadine and Remy Gires who were very close to him in the mid '70s when they had apartments in Kanit House.

The book is especially interesting because it details the case made against Sobhraj for multiple murders in Thailand by Herman Knippenberg, then Third Secretary at the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

He began by investigating the disappearance of a Dutch couple whose burned bodies were later found near Pattaya.

With the help of the Gires and others, Knippenberg was able to present evidence to the Keystone Kops - excuse me, i mean the Thai Police, that led to arrest warrants being issued for several murders.

But by that time Sobhraj had fled to India - only to be arrested there in 1976 for other killings.

His 1986 escape from Tihar Prison in Delhi and rearrest soon after in Goa was thought to be an attempt to extend his jail time in India until a 20 year statute of limitations expired on an international warrant for his arrest in Thailand.

Fascinating stuff......here's the wiki link to Pattaya based serial killer Sobhraj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sobhraj

A quote from the link..............

" finally (and rather boldly) returned to Bangkok, although he knew he was being pursued by authorities there. The clan were interrogated by Thai policemen in connection with the murders, but let off the hook, shockingly because authorities feared that the negative publicity accompanying a murder trial would harm the country's tourist trade. "

There's nothing new under the Sun eh??

[Semper]

where is the current Hippie Trail?.

Koh Phangan?

[SteeleJoe]

Charles Sobhraj

was probably the biggest danger when I was here....so non Thais have always been a problem hee.

Charles Sobhraj's exploits on the Hippie Trail and later in Bangkok, based at the Malaysia Hotel and Kanit House, Soi Saladang are a fascinating story.

Well told by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke in their book, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj.

As far as I know he's still in jail in Katmandu, doing time for one of the dozens of killings he's been suspected of.

His activities in Bangkok are covered extensively in the 1979 Neville/Clarke book. They had access to primary sources; people who knew him.

In particular the young French couple Nadine and Remy Gires who were very close to him in the mid '70s when they had apartments in Kanit House.

The book is especially interesting because it details the case made against Sobhraj for multiple murders in Thailand by Herman Knippenberg, then Third Secretary at the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

He began by investigating the disappearance of a Dutch couple whose burned bodies were later found near Pattaya.

With the help of the Gires and others, Knippenberg was able to present evidence to the Keystone Kops - excuse me, i mean the Thai Police, that led to arrest warrants being issued for several murders.

But by that time Sobhraj had fled to India - only to be arrested there in 1976 for other killings.

His 1986 escape from Tihar Prison in Delhi and rearrest soon after in Goa was thought to be an attempt to extend his jail time in India until a 20 year statute of limitations expired on an international warrant for his arrest in Thailand.

Fascinating stuff......here's the wiki link to Pattaya based serial killer Sobhraj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sobhraj

A quote from the link..............

" finally (and rather boldly) returned to Bangkok, although he knew he was being pursued by authorities there. The clan were interrogated by Thai policemen in connection with the murders, but let off the hook, shockingly because authorities feared that the negative [/size]publicity accompanying a murder trial would harm the country's tourist trade. "[/size]

There's nothing new under the Sun eh?? [/size] [/size]

Sobraj was Bangkok based.

One could say he's partly responsible for me being here...in 1979 I was 17 and read a book called "Serpentine" - after reading "In Cold Blood" I was keen on some quality true crime - and it really fascinated me. I certainly didn't think I wanted to be like Sobraj or meet anyone like him but the Hippie Trail played a prominent role and the exotic adventures available there beckoned...there were other things that led me here 2 years (1981) later but that book was definitely some of what planted the seed.

Since I've read a lot about him (including the Life and Crimes book mentioned above) and find the story to be a fascinating one. The fact that I hung out at the Malaysia and The Blue Fox - the reason Sobraj used them is that they were central meeting points and places of information for SEA travellers - in my first months here only added to it.

The Hippie Trail wasn't really in existence any more but some of those who blazed it were still around and a few of them or those who came a few years after it had first been blazed sort of mentored me in the art of surviving in SEA without having brought a lot of funds...and it has to be said about life in that world of hustle and living in gray areas: Sobraj was more ruthless and deadly than most but he was by no means the only shark in the water...backpackers like myself who wanted to travel around the region o the cheap had to be careful who we fell in with and who might want to "help" us make it.

Edited February 25, 2013 by SteeleJoe

[Dancealot]

One evening in Peshawar was spent with Dr. Timothy Leary, who was on the run at that time, having been broken out of a California (minimum security, I believe) jail by the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood was a loose cabal of long-haired dope dealers who gained local (Afghanistan) notoriety for for their importing of centrifuges, thus automating the production of hash oil!

Another memorable evening in Bombay (Mumbai) I was dragged along by a friend to see his latest guru at a private reception in a posh Malabar Hill apartment. There I was introduced to a then little-known Rajneesh, he of the multiple Rolls Royce automobiles and communes in Oregon and Pune India. He had the largest private library I have ever seen and had the most hypnotic gaze. I sometimes think I missed a bet by not signing on in those very early days. I might have ended up with one of those Rolls Royce cars myself.....But there was no way I was going to walk around in orange robes!

I sat in a pub in Bern, Switzerland a long time ago (?1971?) and chatted with an interesting guy that I later worked out and was told was Timothy Leary. Nice guy, a little crazy I thought, never saw him again. Cafe des Pyrenees

My LSD days were done with, so he didn't interest himself much for what I had to say, I just listened. Many Swiss artists around the table then that have since gained fame. The cafe, as far as I know has not changed since then, one of the few Bernese cafes that are still the same. I am proud to say that I was partly responsible for keeping the character of the place -a pimp took over the place and decided to get hippies and company out, I was working for the owner at the time, Mr. Hess, nice guy who listened.

Cooked you Really met Leary himself? Next to Carlos Castaneda he was 1 of the founders of documenting psychedelic effects . This guy is a legend.

eeeuh i googled him, further no relation .

[Dancealot]

where is the current Hippie Trail?.

Koh Phangan?

It is Koh Farang.

[onionluke]

Ah here the Kahfhkansare playing a certain , left to right ////

[nisakiman]

In a previous post I mentioned that I'd spent some time in Chitral. The journey there was interesting, to put it mildly. The bus from Peshawar to Dir was straightforward, but from Dir you had to change to 4WD. They mostly used old Willys jeeps. First they would load them up with luggage / goods to about the height of the bars that support the canvas at the back, then about ten or twelve passengers would pile on board. Overloaded doesn't begin to describe it. The road itself was a rough dirt track cut into the mountainside, barely wider than the jeep and a sheer cliff on one side and a sheer drop on the other. In places the track had been half destroyed by a rockslide, and when we got to these sections, everyone would disembark, the jeep would be unloaded and a long pole (helpfully propped up against the cliff for precisely this purpose) would be threaded under one side of the jeep, over the abyss and to the other side of the missing bit of road. The passengers would take the weight at each end and support the side of the jeep hanging over the nothingness while the driver inched the jeep across the gap. Once that was done, the jeep would be reloaded and we would continue on our way. It was quite a journey.

We arrived in Chitral bazaar just after dawn and hit the tea house for a cuppa. I (as was normal in those parts of the world) had the squits, so I grabbed the tea-shop owner and asked him where the loo was. "Follow me" he said (in sign language - I didn't speak Chitrali), and led me out into a field next to the tea house. He swept his arm around, encompassing the field - "Here!" I didn't have time to argue, I was pretty desperate, so I dropped my trousers and squatted down. To my astonishment, he squatted down next to me and started asking me questions! "Where do you (brrrrrrp) come from? (Parp) How long (brrrrrrrrrrrrp) will you be (brrrrp) staying?" Heh! He squatted there chatting away until I'd finished, and washed my bum, and then walked back to the tea house with me as if it was the most normal thing in the world!

This is the main (only) bazaar in Chitral. You can just make out Tirich Mir (one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas) in the background. The River Chitral runs alongside the town, and is a wide raging torrent, so heavy with sediment that it is slate grey in colour.

This is the bridge over the River Chitral. The young lady in the foreground is a companion I'd taken up with.

I was looking to stay for a month or two, so wanted to find something better than the tiny room I was in. I was down by the river next to the Royal Palace (Chitral was a principality; the King had been killed in an air crash and his son was only young, so the uncle was acting Prince Regent until the son came of age) and I saw some neat little houses, right on the riverbank and unoccupied.

The Royal Palace Main Entrance

So I knocked on a small door at the back of the palace (servant's entrance?) to ask if anyone knew who owned these houses. The first guy who answered the door spoke no English, but he beetled off and shortly another guy who spoke perfect English came to the door. I didn't know at the time, but it was the Prince Regent himself. So I asked him about the small houses, and if he knew if they could be rented for a month or two. "Ah" he said, "They are actually Palace guest houses, and they aren't for rent". I must have had a crestfallen look on my face, because he then said "But you can have one rent-free if you like."

Palace guest house.

Me on the balcony of my rent-free guest house!

So I was sorted for accommodation. Not only that, but the Palace supplied three servants to do all the cleaning, laundry etc, and would send down a meal from the Palace every evening! Hah! In clover!

Ok, that'll do for now. I have some more pics to upload, but I'll do that later.

[theblether]

Is anybody else jealous reading this thread or is it only just me? :-)

[poanoi]

Unless one of the posts claim to had a good threesome, it's just you

[Dancealot]

Is anybody else jealous reading this thread or is it only just me? :-)

To me it's not jealousy but pure admiration. Very cool story.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Dancealot

[astral]

Man ... like you, I was born in the 60's.

Ah yes, the babes of the world

Look what you missed out on.

[cooked]

Man ... like you, I was born in the 60's.

Ah yes, the babes of the world

Look what you missed out on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQNN1VfgQDQ amongst other things,

was what started my descent from being a well paid public servant to being, eventually, a self employed landscape gardener.

Yes Dancealot, I met him, he was just this guy, I only knew that he had fled California, didn't know at the time that he was in Europe.

[Patsycat]

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dipFMJckZOM?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Edited February 25, 2013 by Patsycat

[harrry]

In a previous post I mentioned that I'd spent some time in Chitral. The journey there was interesting, to put it mildly. The bus from Peshawar to Dir was straightforward, but from Dir you had to change to 4WD. They mostly used old Willys jeeps. First they would load them up with luggage / goods to about the height of the bars that support the canvas at the back, then about ten or twelve passengers would pile on board. Overloaded doesn't begin to describe it. The road itself was a rough dirt track cut into the mountainside, barely wider than the jeep and a sheer cliff on one side and a sheer drop on the other. In places the track had been half destroyed by a rockslide, and when we got to these sections, everyone would disembark, the jeep would be unloaded and a long pole (helpfully propped up against the cliff for precisely this purpose) would be threaded under one side of the jeep, over the abyss and to the other side of the missing bit of road. The passengers would take the weight at each end and support the side of the jeep hanging over the nothingness while the driver inched the jeep across the gap. Once that was done, the jeep would be reloaded and we would continue on our way. It was quite a journey.

We arrived in Chitral bazaar just after dawn and hit the tea house for a cuppa. I (as was normal in those parts of the world) had the squits, so I grabbed the tea-shop owner and asked him where the loo was. "Follow me" he said (in sign language - I didn't speak Chitrali), and led me out into a field next to the tea house. He swept his arm around, encompassing the field - "Here!" I didn't have time to argue, I was pretty desperate, so I dropped my trousers and squatted down. To my astonishment, he squatted down next to me and started asking me questions! "Where do you (brrrrrrp) come from? (Parp) How long (brrrrrrrrrrrrp) will you be (brrrrp) staying?" Heh! He squatted there chatting away until I'd finished, and washed my bum, and then walked back to the tea house with me as if it was the most normal thing in the world!

This is the main (only) bazaar in Chitral. You can just make out Tirich Mir (one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas) in the background. The River Chitral runs alongside the town, and is a wide raging torrent, so heavy with sediment that it is slate grey in colour.

This is the bridge over the River Chitral. The young lady in the foreground is a companion I'd taken up with.

I was looking to stay for a month or two, so wanted to find something better than the tiny room I was in. I was down by the river next to the Royal Palace (Chitral was a principality; the King had been killed in an air crash and his son was only young, so the uncle was acting Prince Regent until the son came of age) and I saw some neat little houses, right on the riverbank and unoccupied.

The Royal Palace Main Entrance

So I knocked on a small door at the back of the palace (servant's entrance?) to ask if anyone knew who owned these houses. The first guy who answered the door spoke no English, but he beetled off and shortly another guy who spoke perfect English came to the door. I didn't know at the time, but it was the Prince Regent himself. So I asked him about the small houses, and if he knew if they could be rented for a month or two. "Ah" he said, "They are actually Palace guest houses, and they aren't for rent". I must have had a crestfallen look on my face, because he then said "But you can have one rent-free if you like."

Palace guest house.

Me on the balcony of my rent-free guest house!

So I was sorted for accommodation. Not only that, but the Palace supplied three servants to do all the cleaning, laundry etc, and would send down a meal from the Palace every evening! Hah! In clover!

Ok, that'll do for now. I have some more pics to upload, but I'll do that later.

Even in Thailand in those days the orange busses, as the toilets at the bus stations were all pay ones and people did not want to use them, used to stop at night and everyone got out including the ladies, walled to a field and did their business.

[craigt3365]

Thanks for the pictures!

[chiangmaikelly]

Is anybody else jealous reading this thread or is it only just me? :-)

When my daughters were quite young on Sunday's I would take them to a Harley biker bar a few miles from our Florida swamp home. Good cheap beer, not many fights (everybody was packing), great live music and camaraderie of ex Monterey pop security forces and Vietnam Vets. The bikers would bring the kids free food and little black Harley tee shirts and the girls would get up on stage and belt out 60's tunes with the band.

During one stirring rendition of a Janis Joplin song my youngest look up and shouted over the din, “Dad, when is your generation going to end?”

[CMHomeboy78]

Charles Sobhraj

was probably the biggest danger when I was here....so non Thais have always been a problem hee.

Charles Sobhraj's exploits on the Hippie Trail and later in Bangkok, based at the Malaysia Hotel and Kanit House, Soi Saladang are a fascinating story.

Well told by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke in their book, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj.

As far as I know he's still in jail in Katmandu, doing time for one of the dozens of killings he's been suspected of.

His activities in Bangkok are covered extensively in the 1979 Neville/Clarke book. They had access to primary sources; people who knew him.

In particular the young French couple Nadine and Remy Gires who were very close to him in the mid '70s when they had apartments in Kanit House.

The book is especially interesting because it details the case made against Sobhraj for multiple murders in Thailand by Herman Knippenberg, then Third Secretary at the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

He began by investigating the disappearance of a Dutch couple whose burned bodies were later found near Pattaya.

With the help of the Gires and others, Knippenberg was able to present evidence to the Keystone Kops - excuse me, i mean the Thai Police, that led to arrest warrants being issued for several murders.

But by that time Sobhraj had fled to India - only to be arrested there in 1976 for other killings.

His 1986 escape from Tihar Prison in Delhi and rearrest soon after in Goa was thought to be an attempt to extend his jail time in India until a 20 year statute of limitations expired on an international warrant for his arrest in Thailand.

Fascinating stuff......here's the wiki link to Pattaya based serial killer Sobhraj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sobhraj

A quote from the link..............

" finally (and rather boldly) returned to Bangkok, although he knew he was being pursued by authorities there. The clan were interrogated by Thai policemen in connection with the murders, but let off the hook, shockingly because authorities feared that the negative publicity accompanying a murder trial would harm the country's tourist trade. "

There's nothing new under the Sun eh??

Charles Sobhraj is well worth a topic of his own.

Although I don't think there are many people who could contribute to it with first-hand experience.

Those who were intimate with him very often didn't live to tell the tale.

All I know about him is what I read and what I've been told.

The reference to Sobhraj being "Pattaya based" is I believe, incorrect.

Pattaya was on the way to Chantaburi where he would take prospective customers - and victims - to buy gemstones.

No doubt he often visited the beautiful beach that I remember from the late '70s.

But I don't think he was ever based there. I may be wrong; and if so, I would like to know more about his life there.

When I first started going to Pattaya the over-development that was to pollute and destroy it by the mid '80s was just beginning.

There was the Beach Road with sois off of it and that was about it. A lot of small hotels and some very good restaurants and bars, mostly run by ex-Airforce guys from U-Tapao and their Thai families. John's Diner was especially good.

Charles Sobhraj and his friends would have had a swim and a meal then kept going.

[SteeleJoe]

Charles Sobhraj

was probably the biggest danger when I was here....so non Thais have always been a problem hee.

Charles Sobhraj's exploits on the Hippie Trail and later in Bangkok, based at the Malaysia Hotel and Kanit House, Soi Saladang are a fascinating story.

Well told by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke in their book, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj.

As far as I know he's still in jail in Katmandu, doing time for one of the dozens of killings he's been suspected of.

His activities in Bangkok are covered extensively in the 1979 Neville/Clarke book. They had access to primary sources; people who knew him.

In particular the young French couple Nadine and Remy Gires who were very close to him in the mid '70s when they had apartments in Kanit House.

The book is especially interesting because it details the case made against Sobhraj for multiple murders in Thailand by Herman Knippenberg, then Third Secretary at the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

He began by investigating the disappearance of a Dutch couple whose burned bodies were later found near Pattaya.

With the help of the Gires and others, Knippenberg was able to present evidence to the Keystone Kops - excuse me, i mean the Thai Police, that led to arrest warrants being issued for several murders.

But by that time Sobhraj had fled to India - only to be arrested there in 1976 for other killings.

His 1986 escape from Tihar Prison in Delhi and rearrest soon after in Goa was thought to be an attempt to extend his jail time in India until a 20 year statute of limitations expired on an international warrant for his arrest in Thailand.

Fascinating stuff......here's the wiki link to Pattaya based serial killer Sobhraj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sobhraj

A quote from the link..............

" finally (and rather boldly) returned to Bangkok, although he knew he was being pursued by authorities there. The clan were interrogated by Thai policemen in connection with the murders, but let off the hook, shockingly because authorities feared that the negative publicity accompanying a murder trial would harm the country's tourist trade. "

There's nothing new under the Sun eh??

Charles Sobhraj is well worth a topic of his own.

Although I don't think there are many people who could contribute to it with first-hand experience.

Those who were intimate with him very often didn't live to tell the tale.

All I know about him is what I read and what I've been told.

The reference to Sobhraj being "Pattaya based" is I believe, incorrect.

Pattaya was on the way to Chantaburi where he would take prospective customers - and victims - to buy gemstones.

No doubt he often visited the beautiful beach that I remember from the late '70s.

But I don't think he was ever based there. I may be wrong; and if so, I would like to know more about his life there.

When I first started going to Pattaya the over-development that was to pollute and destroy it by the mid '80s was just beginning.

There was the Beach Road with sois off of it and that was about it. A lot of small hotels and some very good restaurants and bars, mostly run by ex-Airforce guys from U-Tapao and their Thai families. John's Diner was especially good.

Charles Sobhraj and his friends would have had a swim and a meal then kept going.

As I said earlier, he was Bangkok based. He spent time down there and was known to take victims (murder or theft) there on occasion and killed at least a couple in that vicinity (a bit of story was made out of the fact that one victim was wearing a bikini) but his base was Kanit house in BKK (I actually have a picture of it but it's long gone).

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

[harrry]

Charles Sobhraj

was probably the biggest danger when I was here....so non Thais have always been a problem hee.

Charles Sobhraj's exploits on the Hippie Trail and later in Bangkok, based at the Malaysia Hotel and Kanit House, Soi Saladang are a fascinating story.

Well told by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke in their book, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj.

As far as I know he's still in jail in Katmandu, doing time for one of the dozens of killings he's been suspected of.

His activities in Bangkok are covered extensively in the 1979 Neville/Clarke book. They had access to primary sources; people who knew him.

In particular the young French couple Nadine and Remy Gires who were very close to him in the mid '70s when they had apartments in Kanit House.

The book is especially interesting because it details the case made against Sobhraj for multiple murders in Thailand by Herman Knippenberg, then Third Secretary at the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

He began by investigating the disappearance of a Dutch couple whose burned bodies were later found near Pattaya.

With the help of the Gires and others, Knippenberg was able to present evidence to the Keystone Kops - excuse me, i mean the Thai Police, that led to arrest warrants being issued for several murders.

But by that time Sobhraj had fled to India - only to be arrested there in 1976 for other killings.

His 1986 escape from Tihar Prison in Delhi and rearrest soon after in Goa was thought to be an attempt to extend his jail time in India until a 20 year statute of limitations expired on an international warrant for his arrest in Thailand.

Fascinating stuff......here's the wiki link to Pattaya based serial killer Sobhraj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sobhraj

A quote from the link..............

" finally (and rather boldly) returned to Bangkok, although he knew he was being pursued by authorities there. The clan were interrogated by Thai policemen in connection with the murders, but let off the hook, shockingly because authorities feared that the negative publicity accompanying a murder trial would harm the country's tourist trade. "

There's nothing new under the Sun eh??

Charles Sobhraj is well worth a topic of his own.

Although I don't think there are many people who could contribute to it with first-hand experience.

Those who were intimate with him very often didn't live to tell the tale.

All I know about him is what I read and what I've been told.

The reference to Sobhraj being "Pattaya based" is I believe, incorrect.

Pattaya was on the way to Chantaburi where he would take prospective customers - and victims - to buy gemstones.

No doubt he often visited the beautiful beach that I remember from the late '70s.

But I don't think he was ever based there. I may be wrong; and if so, I would like to know more about his life there.

When I first started going to Pattaya the over-development that was to pollute and destroy it by the mid '80s was just beginning.

There was the Beach Road with sois off of it and that was about it. A lot of small hotels and some very good restaurants and bars, mostly run by ex-Airforce guys from U-Tapao and their Thai families. John's Diner was especially good.

Charles Sobhraj and his friends would have had a swim and a meal then kept going.

As I said earlier, he was Bangkok based. He spent time down there and was known to take victims (murder or theft) there on occasion and killed at least a couple in that vicinity (a bit of story was made out of the fact that one victim was wearing a bikini) but his base was Kanit house in BKK (I actually have a picture of it but it's long gone).

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

I wonder how many people who stay at THe Legend now give a thought to a previous occupier of the land. Hope they built a big spirit house.

[watutsi]

Nisakiman - Thank you for great recollections and especially the photographs.They trigger my own memory to the smells of dust and spices and the pace of life on these narrow streets in Herat and the like. I am amazed at how well you remember everything , my memories seem" out of focus" for the most part.

Danger is something that is now being mentioned.I think the greatest danger in these days was our own naivete.The first time i ever felt threatened was walking toward The Golden Mosque in Mashad {Iran} with an "uncovered " girl.The men were getting increasingly aggressive and eventually physical.and it was down to our complete lack of understanding of where we were and what we were doing.

Another occasion , crossing the border from Iran into Afghanistan, as it was getting dark.The Afghans would not let us continue the relatively short trip to Herat and insisted we eat a meal.We assumed we were being conned into buying a meal but as it transpired they were making sure we did not set off into the darkness alone and were waiting for a number of trucks and cars to do the trip as a convoy.Less likely to be picked off by bandits.

The very rudimentary rooms and guesthouses we stayed in on the trip never had locks on the door that were still in working order and in various countries always when i was travelling with a girlfriend, the door would swing open in the middle of the night and a bunch of men would be staring into the room.This sounds absolutely terrifying now as i recount it but amazingly it never went further than that.They were obviously intrigued at the thought of seeing a foreign girl naked or more.This as an experience just blurred into everything else.We were young and invincible.

Now as i head toward my pension, i'm terrified by the thoughts of so many of the things i did back then, but so glad i can look back on it all with so few regrets.

[theblether]

^^ That reminds me of a story re my Dad. We lived in a mine housing complex in Marampa, Sierra Leone. The complex had a cinema and the arrival of a new movie was always big news. We all turned up to watch a new release called The Naked Prey, a story about a hunting expedition being captured and tortured by African natives. They released one guy and hunted him across the jungle......

Scary stuff.....wee blether aged four disappeared out the door at least 6 times during the movie. Anyway when it finished my Dad walked out to see the collective of serving boys, drivers and porters waiting for the assembled families and exclaimed......

" Oh &lt;deleted&gt; "

Much hilarity ensued but my Dad always says some bast*rd had a cruel sense of humour sending that movie to a mining camp in the middle of the jungle.

[harrry]

^^ That reminds me of a story re my Dad. We lived in a mine housing complex in Marampa, Sierra Leone. The complex had a cinema and the arrival of a new movie was always big news. We all turned up to watch a new release called The Naked Prey, a story about a hunting expedition being captured and tortured by African natives. They released one guy and hunted him across the jungle......

Scary stuff.....wee blether aged four disappeared out the door at least 6 times during the movie. Anyway when it finished my Dad walked out to see the collective of serving boys, drivers and porters waiting for the assembled families and exclaimed......

" Oh &lt;deleted&gt; "

Much hilarity ensued but my Dad always says some bast*rd had a cruel sense of humour sending that movie to a mining camp in the middle of the jungle.

I guess just like in Papua New Guinea with Pirate films were always barracking for the white guys.

[diddums]

Is anybody else jealous reading this thread or is it only just me? :-)

To me it's not jealousy but pure admiration. Very cool story.

.

Not at all....its just different...still adventures to be had.

[bunta71]

My personal hippy trail began in 1971. Lot's happening for me that year...started out with my next door buddy coming home in a box from Viet Nam. I graduated high school that year and my U.S. draft lottery number was 26. It was obvious things 'were'a changin' very soon for me.

I talked to the Army recruiter to see about how long until the local draft board would send me my draft notice? He said within the month. After weighing my options, I enlisted for two years in the Army in what was called the "Delayed Entry Program". This meant that after signing I had six months before having to show up and when I did, I would enter basic traing one pay grade higher. So now, with six months to kill, my hippie trail was at milepost zero, but the trail was calling my name nonetheless...

Having just bought my first new car (1971 Simca 1204) for $1750...$50 down, $50 a month for 50 years was the deal so my buddies Darryl and Kahky Doodle and I set off for the beaches of sunny Mexico. We traveled the entire length of HWY 101 down the west coast of America from Seattle to Mexico in "Baby Simca" which got about 40 miles to the gallon. This whole three month trip was done on $100-$120 each among us and when we got home we probably couldn't scare up a dollar between us all.

We ended up living on a beach at the film site of the movie "Catch 22". The large airstrip was still there along with a few bunkers from the film set. The strange thing was that to gain access to this place, which was about 20 miles out of Guaymas, we had to go through a gate manned by the "Federalies" ( Mexican Army). This seemed strange to have this security in the middle of no where with nothing there to protect.

There were about 30 hippies or so living on this beach and we would go to town every few days for a proper shower and other night time activities available to us at the time. The leisurely daytime pace was shattered one afternoon as we discovered the reason for the Federalies being at the gate to the airport...

All of a sudden, a Cessna 310 twin engine plane landed as a large black limo pulled up at the same instant beside it. Our encampment was where the runway ended at the beach. As all of us watched, the car driver opened the trunk and very quickly loaded two bales of weed into the plane and it sped off.

The driver looked at us watching all this from about 40 meters away and came speeding our way. We had nowhere to run or hide so we just waited. As the driver pulled up, he popped the trunk again and scooped up two paper grocery bags full of loose "shake" in the bottom of the trunk and handed it to us. Then, without a word, he drove off as fast as he came. Oh after dividing up the shake, we three got about one bread sack full as our share. Don't remember all that much after that.

Edited February 26, 2013 by bunta71

[bobbin]

I'm a little slow joining in the discussion of Charles Sohbraj, but I was hiding out from my last post, where I think I came across as some kind of hippie politician. I'm not an expert on the phenomenon, I just lived a part of it...

I also lived through the Indian part of the Sohbraj story real-time. I remember the botched robbery of the jewelry store at the Ashoka Hotel and his capture, imprisonment and escape from custody. I remember his arrest for the drugging of the French tourists. Stories of the murders in Thailand surfaced next, followed by reports that he was living very well in Tihar Jail. There was lots written of him in the Indian press and he definitely had celebrity status.

Since then, I've noted the intermittent news stories updating his "career", and was aware that he is currently jailed in Nepal. I always wondered how he supported himself when he returned or was allowed to return to France. Selling the rights to his story, it would appear.

You could probably spend a considerable amount of time asking random well-informed people who Charles Sohbraj is before getting a positive hit, but here we are talking about him like he was a hometown boy. Which in a way he was, because his victims were our people, young travelers like us. It was very close to home.

Yes, there were sharks in the water.

nisakiman, nice stories about Chitral and you tell a good tale.

Look good in that Pathan gear as well.

[nisakiman]

Look good in that Pathan gear as well.

Heh! Thanks for the compliment, bobbin! It's actually the most comfortable and practical stuff to wear there. Sure as hell beats tight, sweaty jeans! The tailor who made it for me had a novel way of measuring. After I'd picked the fabric, he unwound a bunch of it from the bale and then stretched it across my shoulders and made a little tear in the edge of the fabric, then around my chest from the tear, and made another tear where they met, then same thing for inside leg etc etc. I guess it doesn't actually have to be very accurate, what with being so baggy!

During my stay in Chitral, I made a trip to Bumboret, a valley which as I mentioned in an earlier post had not been touched by the Afghan Warlord who had converted the region to Islam by the sword, probably because it was so inaccessible. To get there, I had to take a jeep back the way I'd come to a village called Ayun. As I remember, it wasn't too far from Chitral. Once in Ayun, I asked for directions to Bumboret, and was pointed to a footpath at the bottom of the mountain. And so the torture began! The path ascended at an angle of 45 degrees, and seemed to climb for miles. It was unrelenting. I must have been climbing for three or four hours.

Looking back down to Ayun.

Eventually, the path reached it's highest point, and started to cut round the side of the mountain. As with the road to Chitral, it was narrow (but footpath narrow - probably a couple of feet) with a sheer cliff on one side and a sheer drop on the other. I'm not sure what height from the valley floor it was, but trees were mere pinpricks below. It goes without saying that there were no safety rails! I'd travelled some way along this path when I got to a section that had been obliterated by a rockslide. The mountains there are like shale, and i was faced with about twenty yards of what looked to be very unstable, very slippery broken shale at a precipitous angle. And a very, very long drop. I was gutted. The prospect of retracing my steps was horrifying, but I didn't dare risk the trip to the other side. So I sat down and had a drink from my water bottle and pondered the situation. While I was sitting there, an old guy carrying a big bundle of wood on his back appeared from round a corner on the other side. To my utter disbelief, he barely broke step, and using a walking stick he was carrying plunged the stick into the shale, wiggled it vigorously to settle the loose stone, and put his foot there, and continued to repeat the process all the way across. I was jawdropped watching him. When he got to my side, we exchanged greetings and he then put down his bundle of wood and gestured for me to follow him. And thus we crossed together. My heart was in my mouth all the way, but the old boy was quite unperturbed. When we completed the crossing, he squatted down, and gesticulated for me to do likewise. He then pulled out a chilum (straight pipe) and proceeded to stuff it with hashish, which we duly smoked in the companionship born of chance meeting. Once we'd finished our shared smoke, off he went across the treacherous shale yet again and disappeared round the mountain.

The next obstacle (to me, but not to the locals I imagine) was where the pathway hit an outcrop of what must have been very hard rock - too hard for their hand tools to dig a path out of. So rather than drive themselves crazy trying to cut a path through it, they'd taken the easier option of just cutting hand and foot holds out. This outcrop jutted out of the mountain, so traversing it meant feeling your way to the next hand / foot hold cut into the rock, with nothing but fresh mountain air below. For several thousand feet. It was only about fifteen feet of this which had to be negotiated, but my heart was beating fit to burst out of my chest. Had I not been beyond the point of no return I probably would have given up at that point. I'm not very keen on heights at the best of times.

Anyway, I forced myself past that last challenge and from there it was fairly straightforward. I'd thought that going down the other side would be easy, but it was a nightmare. The danger was allowing yourself to let gravity pull you into a run. If you allowed that to happen there would be no stopping, and disaster would be the outcome. I was wearing walking boots, and where my feet had been pressed into the toe of the boot going down, all my toenails went blue and fell out.

Looking down to Bumboret valley.

The Kalash women have a unique traditional costume, and their headdresses have been handed down through the generations. Bizarrely, they are decorated with hundreds of small cowrie shells. High in the Hindu Kush. Thousands of miles from the sea. Nobody was able to tell me where they came from, but I suspect that those mountains may have been part of the ocean floor millions of years ago, and they were collected locally. But I'm guessing.

Kalash women in traditional costume.

They also have some odd customs, although not unique I don't think. In the village, there is a compound, and the women, when they are menstruating and when they are pregnant have to live in this compound. During those periods, the only ones who can set eyes of them are the other women. Men are forbidden to enter. They also have full moon festivals, which I mentioned in a previous post, where there is much feasting and dancing, the highlight of the evening being at midnight, when the young post-pubescent virgins of the village dress in their traditional robes and dance to the beat of drums. It's quite other-worldly.

The architecture is particular to the area also, and the steps are hewn out of a single piece of wood.

It was an interesting trip.

The 'Hippie Trail' was much maligned by many, but it provided me with experiences that not many people can lay claim to, It formed my character and my approach to life, and taught me a great deal about myself and about the people around me. As I said before, I wouldn't have changed anything. As watutsi says above, when you are young you think you are immortal, and do things that in later life you would never dream of doing. I sailed very close to the edge on a regular basis, buoyed by the exuberant overconfidence of youth. I was lucky that I didn't meet a sharp and brutish end on several occasions.

The Gods must have been smiling on me!

I think this thread is reaching its natural conclusion, so thanks for reading my rather narcissistic trip down a small part of my memory lane. I have so many stories to tell I'd end up boring the pants off everyone! I've enjoyed all the other contributions to the thread, too. We all have a story to tell.