The Hippie Trail......

[bobbin]

Again with the photo..

[Phronesis]

I was in Pai in the early 80s.

It was still of the grid and a rather dangerous place.

While there a fellow female backpacker was rapped and murdered down by the river.

Burmese were blamed for the crime.

Seems that Thailand hasn't changed much in 32 years...

[harrry]

Charles Sobhraj

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

[SteeleJoe]

Did the true "hippies" even know HOW to find their way out of California? I doubt if most could even afford the price of a plane ticket.

Boy you are young. The movement started on the East coast of the US with Beatniks and then moved to the West coast. Try reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The New York Times called The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test "not simply the best book on hippies… [but also] the essential book. You also might want to read, " Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers"

The youth of the 1960's were the only generation in North America to actually do something beyond sit on their bums and sponge off of mom and dad. Stopping the war in Vietnam, Civil rights movement, 2nd wave Feminism, gay rights, Hispanic and Chicano movement to name a few. Actually one might say every generation before and after the Hippies were lost.

Good post but you sell the other generations a bit short (showing your age, I'm afraid!); in particular you do a great disservice to the people of the 50's who REALLY moved the struggle for civil rights into it's most important phase - and risked their lives in doing so.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

In the US the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the major legal change. I think all the participants would have to be over 60 now. For extra reading, "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_%281955%E2%80%931968%29

To have been politically active in the 1960's how old would you be now?

I know quite a lot about the history of that movement - I don't need Wikipedia for that - and without reading your link I can guarantee it doesn't refute my point.

By the way, I know you like to move the goalposts in threads but not only is " the major legal change" not the point, but that act was passed by a previous generation to that which you gave credit as a result of actions by a generation previous to that which you gave credit; nothing to do with the hippie generation (who in fact arguably achieved far less than you claim).

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

[chiangmaikelly]

Did the true "hippies" even know HOW to find their way out of California? I doubt if most could even afford the price of a plane ticket.

Boy you are young. The movement started on the East coast of the US with Beatniks and then moved to the West coast. Try reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The New York Times called The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test "not simply the best book on hippies… [but also] the essential book. You also might want to read, " Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers"

The youth of the 1960's were the only generation in North America to actually do something beyond sit on their bums and sponge off of mom and dad. Stopping the war in Vietnam, Civil rights movement, 2nd wave Feminism, gay rights, Hispanic and Chicano movement to name a few. Actually one might say every generation before and after the Hippies were lost.

Good post but you sell the other generations a bit short (showing your age, I'm afraid!); in particular you do a great disservice to the people of the 50's who REALLY moved the struggle for civil rights into it's most important phase - and risked their lives in doing so.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

In the US the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the major legal change. I think all the participants would have to be over 60 now. For extra reading, "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_%281955%E2%80%931968%29

To have been politically active in the 1960's how old would you be now?

I know quite a lot about the history of that movement - I don't need Wikipedia for that - and without reading your link I can guarantee it doesn't refute my point.

By the way, I know you like to move the goalposts in threads but not only is " the major legal change" not the point, but that act was passed by a previous generation to that which you gave credit as a result of actions by a generation previous to that which you gave credit; nothing to do with the hippie generation (who in fact arguably achieved far less than you claim).

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

Since you started it...... What did the generation born in the 1950's contribute to the civil rights movement? I was 18 in 1965 and thought it was pretty much over by the 1970's.

[mistitikimikis]

Being an over-aged hippie but because of losing my job I wanted to do the "hippie-trail" the other way round in 1977.

Flying on the cheap from Amsterdam - London - Moscow (Aeroflot ) to Jakarta, travelling by train and bus to Bali (at that time an oasis). Back to Singapore, by bus to Kuantan (Malaysia along the South Chinese sea), going into Taman Negara. From there by shared taxi to Penang where I got my Thai visa.

Planning to travel to Thailand, but unfortunately (?), because of a job-offer, I had to cancel my dream-trip to travel back through Thailand, Birma, Nepal etc. etc. etc.

I can remember to have seen at Singapore airport a big warning-billboard showing a male-person with long hair and a big red cross over it, pointing at the hair-dresser at the airport, to let him make a "correction" to avoid being refused to enter the country as an improper person.

[kpmsprtd]

My thanks to all of you. Little did I know upon entering this thread that I was about to experience one of the all-time best history lessons of my life. Great stories and great photos!

[SteeleJoe]

Did the true "hippies" even know HOW to find their way out of California? I doubt if most could even afford the price of a plane ticket.

Boy you are young. The movement started on the East coast of the US with Beatniks and then moved to the West coast. Try reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The New York Times called The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test "not simply the best book on hippies… [but also] the essential book. You also might want to read, " Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers"

The youth of the 1960's were the only generation in North America to actually do something beyond sit on their bums and sponge off of mom and dad. Stopping the war in Vietnam, Civil rights movement, 2nd wave Feminism, gay rights, Hispanic and Chicano movement to name a few. Actually one might say every generation before and after the Hippies were lost.

Good post but you sell the other generations a bit short (showing your age, I'm afraid!); in particular you do a great disservice to the people of the 50's who REALLY moved the struggle for civil rights into it's most important phase - and risked their lives in doing so.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

In the US the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the major legal change. I think all the participants would have to be over 60 now. For extra reading, "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_(1955–1968)

To have been politically active in the 1960's how old would you be now?

I know quite a lot about the history of that movement - I don't need Wikipedia for that - and without reading your link I can guarantee it doesn't refute my point.

By the way, I know you like to move the goalposts in threads but not only is " the major legal change" not the point, but that act was passed by a previous generation to that which you gave credit as a result of actions by a generation previous to that which you gave credit; nothing to do with the hippie generation (who in fact arguably achieved far less than you claim).

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

Since you started it...... What did the generation born in the 1950's contribute to the civil rights movement? I was 18 in 1965 and thought it was pretty much over by the 1970's.

I started it"? Well, I responded to your (ridiculous) assertion that only the youth of the 60's did something besides sponge off mom and dad (leaving aside that plenty of them did just that while they and many of their peers just indulged themselves with perhaps unprecedented hedonism - which was a social revolution of a sort in itself).

I don't know why you are asking me what the people born in the 50's did for the civil rights movement: I mean I could write a whole lot more of this off topic stuff to answer that question but are you asking ME to support YOUR claim? After all, it wasn't me that gave (sole) credit to the people born then...

And as to your age in 1965...uhmmm, OK? And?

[watutsi]

Has anyone else seen the "No Hippies!" sign at the border when entering Thailand via Malaysia by train? It looks pretty old and lists identifying characteristics of hippies, which may get you denied entry to the kingdom (long hair, beard, sandles etc). So there must have been a lot of hippies arriving at some point, although there were a few hippyish-looking backpackers that day and I never noticed any of them getting turned away.

Great reminiscenes by the way, keep them coming.

Even in the late 60's it was difficult to get into Morocco with long hair.The usual way in was from Spain, across the Straits of Gibralter.You arrived in North Africa but you were still officially in Spain, an enclave called Ceuta.

A bunch of us got on the bus for the short ride through the border into Morocco, not really taking this "long hair rumour "that seriously.At the Moroccan checkpoint armed guards got on the bus and ordered all the western male travellers off, lined us up against a wall and preceded to go down the line yanking at our pathetic attempts to diguise our long hair.They didn't cut our hair but just sent us back where we had come from.The one guy they missed that day had the longest hair of us all,he was Scandinavian, fair skin and long blonde hair well down his back. he had put on a dress and a little mascara and was well on his way to Marrakesh, while the rest of us were still discussing the merits of cutting our hair.

[craigt3365]

Has anyone else seen the "No Hippies!" sign at the border when entering Thailand via Malaysia by train? It looks pretty old and lists identifying characteristics of hippies, which may get you denied entry to the kingdom (long hair, beard, sandles etc). So there must have been a lot of hippies arriving at some point, although there were a few hippyish-looking backpackers that day and I never noticed any of them getting turned away.

Great reminiscenes by the way, keep them coming.

I'd love to see that sign. I tried to find one I took in Costa Rica a few years ago telling all backpackers who wanted to stay at their guesthouse that showers were mandatory!

[cooked]

I traveled overland from UK to India in 1970.I set off from London on something called Budget Bus which got as far as Yugoslavia before breaking down. I hitched to Istanbul and picked up a ride from the notice board at the Pudding Shop.This was a V.W. camper which took me to Kabul.Kabul was a great place and had a slight dusty sophistication about it that is difficult to imagine today. There were, what would be called today,places to chill, where you could smoke dope and get the best strawberry milkshakes ever.Onward through the Khyber Pass and Pakistan riding in the back of a multi decorated Afghan truck and about 2 days of queuing to get into India as the border was only open a few hours every week .Then off down to the beaches of Goa.

India was so big and it just filled your senses to overflowing every day that i never had the feeling to go further east,My memories of the whole experience are cluttered as there is too much to remember, but my overriding memory is of how totally alien everything was. Crossing a border was more like arriving on a new planet.You knew absolutely nothing about where you were, there were no Lonely Planets or Travel Advisory, every step you took was into the unknown and an adventure.There was certainly no global village, everything was new and strange, as i was to the natives.The only music you heard was the music of the country you were in.There was no means of carrying your own music with you , unlike today.Strangely the one exception to this was Santana which was the only western music i heard on the whole trip

I'll never forget waking up EARLY in the desert in Egypt and dreamily being astonished by the camels going by. (Hadn't seen any for a week or two). What next? The Incredible String Band, played by an Arab coffee stall owner. AND it was my favorite track, the Hedgehog song. 1970 I think.

[harrry]

I traveled overland from UK to India in 1970.I set off from London on something called Budget Bus which got as far as Yugoslavia before breaking down. I hitched to Istanbul and picked up a ride from the notice board at the Pudding Shop.This was a V.W. camper which took me to Kabul.Kabul was a great place and had a slight dusty sophistication about it that is difficult to imagine today. There were, what would be called today,places to chill, where you could smoke dope and get the best strawberry milkshakes ever.Onward through the Khyber Pass and Pakistan riding in the back of a multi decorated Afghan truck and about 2 days of queuing to get into India as the border was only open a few hours every week .Then off down to the beaches of Goa.

India was so big and it just filled your senses to overflowing every day that i never had the feeling to go further east,My memories of the whole experience are cluttered as there is too much to remember, but my overriding memory is of how totally alien everything was. Crossing a border was more like arriving on a new planet.You knew absolutely nothing about where you were, there were no Lonely Planets or Travel Advisory, every step you took was into the unknown and an adventure.There was certainly no global village, everything was new and strange, as i was to the natives.The only music you heard was the music of the country you were in.There was no means of carrying your own music with you , unlike today.Strangely the one exception to this was Santana which was the only western music i heard on the whole trip

I'll never forget waking up EARLY in the desert in Egypt and dreamily being astonished by the camels going by. (Hadn't seen any for a week or two). What next? The Incredible String Band, played by an Arab coffee stall owner. AND it was my favorite track, the Hedgehog song. 1970 I think.

My favorite was the little hole in the wall mince curry shop nect to a little hotel in Quetta. Great curry and hot frsh bread from the baker next door. Did not take long to see he was also the local gun supplier with a stream of people apearing and guns coming out from under robes and bieing passed over.

May be a good thing I left Quetta after a couple of weeks.

[katana]

Has

anyone else seen the "No Hippies!" sign at the border when entering

Thailand via Malaysia by train? It looks pretty old and lists

identifying characteristics of hippies, which may get you denied entry

to the kingdom (long hair, beard, sandles etc). So there must have been a

lot of hippies arriving at some point, although there were a few

hippyish-looking backpackers that day and I never noticed any of them

getting turned away.

Great reminiscenes by the way, keep them coming.

I'd

love to see that sign. I tried to find one I took in Costa Rica a few

years ago telling all backpackers who wanted to stay at their guesthouse

that showers were mandatory!

http://www.onewayticketphil.com/guide-to-a-ranong-visa-run-from-to-burma-myanmar/

http://12monthsinasia.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/chinglish-signs/

[craigt3365]

HA! Must not apply these days based on recent sightings in KSR and Pai.

[bobbin]

There was/is a small town between Peshawar and the Khyber Pass name of Londi Khotal, which was a thriving hub of self-taught gunsmiths, still turning out faithful copies of late 1800's British Raj-era rifles. They were much in demand from the local tribesmen. Both they and the town were in the autonomous Tribal area of Pakistan, now more famous for drone strikes piloted by computer game graduates from somewhere in the American Southwest, I believe.

I bought a revolver there and had it with me for months without ever firing it, aside from the demo, which was part of the sales pitch. the seller was the one who fired it. I was afraid it would blow up and take my hand off!

After the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, I'm pretty sure that gun manufacturing skill died out, as the whole area was being inundated by modern American (mostly) supplied automatic weapons. They preferred to supply Kalashnikovs, for deniability reasons, though.

[NoshowJones]

Did Thailand actually have airplanes as far back as the sixties? 50 odd years on and it has still not developed yet. Will Thailand ever develope?

[bobbin]

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!

[mistitikimikis]

Did Thailand actually have airplanes as far back as the sixties? 50 odd years on and it has still not developed yet. Will Thailand ever develope?

"Thai air-accidents": a list of almost 1.000 accidents in Thailand (starting 22-12-1929)

thai-aviation.net

[mistitikimikis]

Warning concerning "Long (indecent) hair" in a Singaporian travel-brochure (the seventies):

"When in Singapore"

"Long hair: Male visitors are advised to have their hair cut if it reaches below the top of their shirt-collar. The authorities frown on long hair. Please note that long-haired persons will be served last at all government departments and offices."

Unfortunately I lost the photo I made at Singapore airport concerning their billboard-warning.

[prodriver]

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

[prodriver]

Perhaps I should also mention that the previous year when I was 21 year's of age (1967), I and three mates from Tottenham (I was from Wembley) bought an old icecream van and converted it to a dormobile. I mention my age as the others were just a bit younger than me so we put the insurance in my name.

We then toured some of Europe in it travelling through France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. It was the time when there was a restriction on the amount of money one could take out of Britain. We had an absolute ball but with our limited funds, I won't tell you how we managed to make ends meet....ahem!!

[harrry]

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 went to his ashram in Puna but the "Ever Open Door" was closed for 3 days for a conference so I did not see much...or stay.

[theblether]

This thread is superb.

.

[SteeleJoe]

This thread is superb.

One of the best I've ever seen, by far.

[chiangmaikelly]

Did Thailand actually have airplanes as far back as the sixties? 50 odd years on and it has still not developed yet. Will Thailand ever develope?

The Royal Thai Air Force

museum is open every day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. except on national

holidays.

The Thai Airforce flew Supermarine Spitfires XIV and F8F-1 Bearcats.

And Fighter Type 16 (Republic F-84G Thunderjet)

(1956- 1963) In 1956 - 1957, thirty-one Republic F-84G Thunderjets, the Royal Thai Air Force first jet fighter, were delivered to Thailand by the United States, costing US$ 338,718 (7,113,000 baht) each and designated Fighter Type 16.

[harrry]

Did Thailand actually have airplanes as far back as the sixties? 50 odd years on and it has still not developed yet. Will Thailand ever develope?

The Royal Thai Air Force

museum is open every day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. except on national

holidays.

The Thai Airforce flew Supermarine Spitfires XIV and F8F-1 Bearcats.

And Fighter Type 16 (Republic F-84G Thunderjet)

(1956- 1963) In 1956 - 1957, thirty-one Republic F-84G Thunderjets, the Royal Thai Air Force first jet fighter, were delivered to Thailand by the United States, costing US$ 338,718 (7,113,000 baht) each and designated Fighter Type 16.

Thailand has a very early aviation history...its airforce first flew in 1913.

http://www.earlyaviators.com/ethai1.htm is fascinating reading.

[cooked]

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.

[theblether]

Here's a Dr Timothy Leary clip from Youtube...... that must bring back some memories, or not, depending how much you listened to his teachings

[bobbin]

Dr. Leary was almost more a symbol than an actual ongoing influence on the counter-culture. The guru-like appeal was on an intellectual level and he and his friend Guru Baba Ram Das aka Dr. Richard Alpert attempted to hold up the lantern lighting the way forward. His influence was most powerful in the "tune in" phase of the phenomenon.

Jingthing was here earlier talking about his deadhead ( Grateful Dead fan) days, so may remember that the Owsley I mentioned in earlier posts was their personal (al)chemist and maker of acid.

The real psychic energizer was and always will be, cannabis. That was where the "turn on" part came into play.

I felt I had had an opportunity to meet and talk at length with a man who had been an important if not central influence on my life to that point.

These adventurous youth from many countries first explored the restrictions society had placed on them and then many went on to actually explore this planet of ours. The present popularity of Thailand is a direct result of the exposure of it's charms by those early arrivals. Could we even stretch it to be an ancestor of our Global Village of today? We did the hard traveling, setting things in play for the monied tourists (often the same early explorers themselves) to follow.

[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.