Were you a Pre-'97 H. Konger and Now A Thailand Lifer? Your Stories Please.

[OldChinaHam]

I am always on the lookout for a topic that I think might be of interest to some in the Pub.

Once in a while, I do hit on one. (Topic, I mean)

But anyway, I know there are quite a few here who are in Thailand, and have actually spent significant time in HK, and sometimes these men and women wish to fondly reminisce about days gone by.

It is no fun reminiscing about Hong Kong, when in Hong Kong! What good would that do, you would not really be reminiscing at all. This is the time and place to do it.

Yesterday, I met a nice looking chap who had been working for the gov in Hong Kong for about over approximately 25 years. He said he loved it there, but now he has made Chiang Mai his home, and it is nicer here for the money. He comes from the UK originally. A very nice chap, indeed.

Judging from this chap's demeanor, I believe he does not spend too much time in the Pub, but I know he likes to think about some of the exciting times he had years ago, and maybe COMPARE them to what he has found here in Chiang Mai, or the rest of Thailand, since the days he left Kowloon.

Of course, some of us have never really lived in HK, but this does not matter, because most of us, if not all of us, have needed to travel through HK on the way to anywhere, and who would not stop for a few days in HK if they could possibly not help not doing so? So we all have an interest.

aa.) I hope to hear from those who were there in HK definitely pre-1997. I mean maybe the many who had government jobs, and were there for the long haul, long ago. I think their stories might be most interesting.

bb.) If you are a tourist, or were a tourist, and do not live in CM, or the rest of Thailand, but you lived in HK, then, please fire away, and comment to your little heart's content.

cc.) If you are a tourist in Thailand, and were a tourist in HK, then sorry, I am glad you were there, and are here, but I really want the perspective of the old gits, and the young at heart still good looking gals, who really know where it was in HK, and where it is at in Thailand!

So please do not let me down on this one.

I love to read your good comments, and especially your good stories in a nutshell.

Where do you live in Thailand?

Why did you leave Hong Kong?

What did you do for fun then and now?

You know, the tiresome old details which are not really tiresome to those who have spent significant time in both places, Hong Kong, and Thailand, with emphasis on Chiang Mai, the land we love.

Thanks.

[StreetCowboy]

I've posted this before, and no doubt I'll post it again, as I have very few entertaining stories, so I use this instead,,..

Have I told you about my trip to the Scottish bar on Sukhumvit Road (that subsequently moved to Soi 22, I believe?)
If so, then you can close this post now...

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...
I was walking up the South Side of Sukhumvit Road, from Emporium towards Asoke, and in those days there was a pub with a sign of red lion rampant on a gold background. So I went in; inside, it was like any third-rate Bangkok bar, thick with smoke and linoleum on the floor; so I perched on a stool at the bar and bought a bottle of Singha. The auld fella next to me says in a broad Glasgow accent
"So whair'r you fi?"
"Hong Kong"
"Hong Kong? Ah wi twenty-two year in Hong Kong wi' Swire Pacific. D'ye ken Swite Pacific?"
"Yes, they own Cathay Pacific and the coca-cola franchse. So are you retired here now, then"
"Aye, I'm retired after 22 year in Hong Kong wi swire pacific. D'ye ken Swire Pacific"
"Yes..."

anyway, I drank up quick as I could and made a sharp exit, thinking "This is just like back home - I'm never going back!"

SC

[OldChinaHam]

I've posted this before, and no doubt I'll post it again, as I have very few entertaining stories, so I use this instead,,..

Have I told you about my trip to the Scottish bar on Sukhumvit Road (that subsequently moved to Soi 22, I believe?)

If so, then you can close this post now...

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...

I was walking up the South Side of Sukhumvit Road, from Emporium towards Asoke, and in those days there was a pub with a sign of red lion rampant on a gold background. So I went in; inside, it was like any third-rate Bangkok bar, thick with smoke and linoleum on the floor; so I perched on a stool at the bar and bought a bottle of Singha. The auld fella next to me says in a broad Glasgow accent

"So whair'r you fi?"

"Hong Kong"

"Hong Kong? Ah wi twenty-two year in Hong Kong wi' Swire Pacific. D'ye ken Swite Pacific?"

"Yes, they own Cathay Pacific and the coca-cola franchse. So are you retired here now, then"

"Aye, I'm retired after 22 year in Hong Kong wi swire pacific. D'ye ken Swire Pacific"

"Yes..."

anyway, I drank up quick as I could and made a sharp exit, thinking "This is just like back home - I'm never going back!"

SC

Maybe if I really did suffer from dementia

I would not mind so much your insisting that you posted this before

But even if you did, this does not matter

Everything you write is worth reading over and over

Still you would need to check your posts and likes to see if what you say is so.

And my interests have not changed much since your last few posts probably.

Every day it seems, my interest in this topic becomes ever more piqued

Because you would be surprised just how many chaps I seem to run into

Who have spent significant time in HK, and many in gov service.

This is a most interesting thing to read about, if there were only more comment contributors, it would be even better.

So if we do not muck up the thread, maybe we might actually learn something about our fellows.

(And, just as a short aside, I wonder if any of you have worked in the HK Custom's House? Because I like reading anything from people like Hawthorne, and I figure that anyone in the Custom's House, must be able to write just about as tight prose as he. And tight as you, as you keep telling us that you spend all your time in pubs and bars where ever you go.)

Edited July 18, 2013 by OldChinaHam

[StreetCowboy]

I think the 12 May 2012 date is actually the date I quoted it in a different thread, not the original posting date, but the original thread has been archived...

I arrived shortly before the hand-over, when Hong Kong was booming, and Brett's Seafood, the chippie in Wanchai, was still open. The Stag's Head in Hart Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui, had a 3 am till 4 happy hour for the benefit of bar staff from other pubs that closed earlier. And they had a DJ from Kilmarnock.

SC

[rgs2001uk]

I've posted this before, and no doubt I'll post it again, as I have very few entertaining stories, so I use this instead,,..

Have I told you about my trip to the Scottish bar on Sukhumvit Road (that subsequently moved to Soi 22, I believe?)

If so, then you can close this post now...

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...

I was walking up the South Side of Sukhumvit Road, from Emporium towards Asoke, and in those days there was a pub with a sign of red lion rampant on a gold background. So I went in; inside, it was like any third-rate Bangkok bar, thick with smoke and linoleum on the floor; so I perched on a stool at the bar and bought a bottle of Singha. The auld fella next to me says in a broad Glasgow accent

"So whair'r you fi?"

"Hong Kong"

"Hong Kong? Ah wi twenty-two year in Hong Kong wi' Swire Pacific. D'ye ken Swite Pacific?"

"Yes, they own Cathay Pacific and the coca-cola franchse. So are you retired here now, then"

"Aye, I'm retired after 22 year in Hong Kong wi swire pacific. D'ye ken Swire Pacific"

"Yes..."

anyway, I drank up quick as I could and made a sharp exit, thinking "This is just like back home - I'm never going back!"

SC

Matty is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, remember him well from his days in Jools, believe he has now relocated to the PI.

[smokie36]

There was a chick in her 50's used to sit in Charlies off Soi 11....mummy and daddy chatter lol....lived in HK a long time....I wonder what happened to her...?

Is she still around....must be a few more exiles kicking about....

[CelticBhoy]

There was a chick in her 50's used to sit in Charlies off Soi 11....mummy and daddy chatter lol....lived in HK a long time....I wonder what happened to her...?

Is she still around....must be a few more exiles kicking about....

Sarah. She is probably still there . . . . . has been for years. Always calls me 'darling' for whatever reason.

[chrisinth]

I lived there for a while, between 1988 and 1991. What a pleasant job that was! I had the pleasure of knowing intimately Tolo Channel to the West and Lamma Channel to the East of the island. Scenic cruises almost every week around Mirs Bay and Lamma meeting the most interesting of people during this time.

We would often meet them in the quaint little taverns of Wan Chai on the Island or Tsim Sha Tsui, Sham Shui Po or Mongkok on the Kowloon side, raising glasses in salute, hoping to meet them during the next cruise.

Of course, I was always jealous of the 'pleasure crafts' they were driving, reaching speeds of 85 knots (157 kph) across the balmy South China Sea waters. Of course, 5 x 300 hp outboard engines on the transom will do that for a purpose built smuggling boat. Our pursuit craft could only reach 65 knots (120 kph), so we had to be creative to stop them for a chat...........

It was also during that time in Hong Kong that I met, and worked alongside, the best police force (at the time) that money could buy.

Loved every minute of it. Sometimes regret the jobs I turned down by the people we used to meet at night....................

[kotsak]

I am a post-'97 HK PR.. Stayed there for 10 years.. Miss it dearly..

[onionluke]

I am still there , most of the time . I got off the plane at Kaitak from BK in 1994 , 22 years old with with 50 quid and a mandolin . I stayed at a place on Castle Peak RD called Ting Kau Guest House , 30 HK a night in a dorm . I soon found myself driving International Payhauler 360 dump trucks on the Yam O cut . I was in the Red Lion on the night of handover . It was pishing down outside , I went up onto Chungking Mansion's roof to wait for the Red Army to drive down Nathan Rd , but that didn't happen . Did it ?

[StreetCowboy]

I am still there , most of the time . I got off the plane at Kaitak from BK in 1994 , 22 years old with with 50 quid and a mandolin . I stayed at a place on Castle Peak RD called Ting Kau Guest House , 30 HK a night in a dorm . I soon found myself driving International Payhauler 360 dump trucks on the Yam O cut . I was in the Red Lion on the night of handover . It was pishing down outside , I went up onto Chungking Mansion's roof to wait for the Red Army to drive down Nathan Rd , but that didn't happen . Did it ?

I was up the Peak at the Aberdeen Rugby Club do. Stairrods, it was. Poor old Prince Charles looked particularly miserable, and Chris Patten was having trouble keeping a stiff upper lip, as well. He'd done a good job, though, seeing it all through so smoothly.

Anyway, it pished down the whole holiday, and there was a train derailment on a landslide.

SC

[OldChinaHam]

"I was up the Peak at the Aberdeen Rugby Club do. Stairrods, it was. Poor old Prince Charles looked particularly miserable, and Chris Patten was having trouble keeping a stiff upper lip, as well. He'd done a good job, though, seeing it all through so smoothly.

Anyway, it pished down the whole holiday, and there was a train derailment on a landslide."

Thanks for this.

I am not qualified to comment here, not living in HK for more than 3 yrs, and not working for the government there, or other HK local company.

Also, I am not worthy.

These are the stories that I think are interesting however.

[Songhua]

I don't quite fit your criteria OP but, as an Aussie serviceman, I was attached to BFHK (British Forces Hong Kong) for the three years 83-86.

During the first half of the tour I resided on LaSalle Rd in Kowloon Tong but later moved into a waterview room on the 22nd floor of HMS Tamar. The Brits (forces and civil servants) were the best bunch of blokes I could ever have wished to work alongside and some lifelong friendships were formed there.

Long lunches at ChungKing and even longer nights in The Wanch. Yes siree, good times.

[mmehy]

Hi Weevils !

Been there on and off since march 17th 1976 ( mostly on though ) and still have my main residence there

was married to a Thai Lady for 20 years, choose Chiangmai as a retirement place, but she preferred Bangkok,

end of this story . Since 1993 I have been spending a few weeks a year in Maerim , in this " Retirement Home" that I saved ! Mostly in the winter , will be happy to share a beer or two, or a glass of sauvignon with you and

exchange notes, my next visit is planned for the end of September. Cheers ! Michel

[nonthaburial]

Landed at Kai Tak in August 1977, spent two years with the Gurkha Transport Regiment at Gun Club Barracks whilst residing on Stone Cutters, got heavily involved with the local sporting areas during my stay. Enjoyed life so much that when my two years was up and was expected to return to the UK with 3 Commando Brigade, I purchased my discharge, leaving the forces on a Friday lunchtime and reported to work in the afternoon to the RHKP Traffic investigation unit as a vehicle examiner.

Before leaving HK in 1996, I worked for the HKFSD, Citybus and Simon Access.

I left HK in 1996 after living in Pokfulam, Happy Valley and Shatin, very sad to leave as I considered them, as I do now that HK is my home, After 10 years in BKK I now work in Dongguan which is only 70Kms North of "home" and I visit regularly to meet up with old friends and ex colleagues.

I believe a famous ex HK person, in the name of Derek Currie who played professional soccer with the then Seiko before moving to Carlsberg as a PR chappie is also a Thai resident, I tried unsuccessfully to uncover him in Thailand but if anyone knows "puff" please tell him Stroudy says hello.