From time to time I will bump into someone either in person or online that will share with me a story or 2 about how things used to be in Bangkok. In general my guess is that it used to be a lot better in some ways but it is not like we have it too bad either. I thought I would share a few of things I have heard in hopes that others who read the blog might chime in and share what they used to experience.
Following our some of what has been told to me by people who have been in and around Bangkok since the late 1950’s.
Prior to Patpong there was mostly a club/bar scene that existed along Petchburi road. This was were British and American military men were told to go out and these is where the scene was tolerated. Couple of guys told me they used to visit large clubs that were full of women with some of the clubs having small indoor pools. He said apart from the mamasans, service girls and bartenders - the girls were almost always naked. Just wearing shoes. They would hang with u at the bar, drink and talk. He said one of the games they played was called something like snicker. He said a group of mates would sit around a big booth table with each guy getting a blowjob by some girl under the table. The first guy to crack up or laugh had to buy a round of drinks. He said the local boys would practice regularly so that when a FOB came to town for sure he would be buying the drinks.
Was in a taxi one night crusing Lumpini while heading to Silom and of course the Tax driver and I were watching the girls working the Park. The driver was in 60’s and mentioned that he first came to Bangkok when he was 18. He told me the park was not so big then and did not have women. Of course I prodded him and asked him where were the women. He said Patpong was just getting going so of course they were there but he said that was for the rich white people. He said the local Thais would cruise Hua Lamphong train station. He said u could get a girl and a room for around 80 baht.
More on Patpong. So Patpong was the first foreigner friendly place. People say when Patpong started cowboy was non existent and Nana was a parking lot with a few bars. The story goes that Silom area, business center, was getting more and more airline offices. So the Chinese/Thai that owned Patpong figured the guys working there needed foreigner friendly places to party so he started to build out Patpong. Obviously this kicked off quite a phase in Bangkok. Patpong has seen better days but it is mostly owned by the same people as it was. Hence the problem.
The last tidbit I will share was from a British friend of mine who has been in Thailand since the early 50’s. He was here learning Thai for his British intelligence position. His first comment was that at the time all the Thai teachers were women. Who spoke very little english. He said the more they taught Thai the more they learned English. He said any girl speaking decent English would leave her teaching job because she had met a guy and was planning to be married. He said even back then they always wanted to land a husband.
His job required him to spend lots of time in the countryside in places like Ubon, Korat and so on. He said even these places had a scene but it was much more underground. He said if u were staying in a hotel or home all u would have to do is go look for the local head of the police who also ran the girls. He said you would pay him a fixed cost for a week to have a girl come to your place each day to cook, clean and stay the night. In the morning she would cook, take away the laundry and say goodbye. In the evening a new girl would show up with the laundry and the whole cycle would start over. He said if u ever did not fancy a girl who showed up at your door u could politely tell her to send someone else. She would leave and an hour later a new girl would show up. I recall him saying this was like 800 baht a week but don’t quote me on it. He told me us young guys don’t have it as good as he did. Somehow I believe him.
So this what I have heard. I tend to believe it, envy it and wish I had discovered Thailand earlier in life but if I had I think I might not have been able to deal with it. My friends and I all think that coming to Thailand in your early 30s on is not so bad.
Anyone care to share similar stories? I know we have some readers who were in Thailand back in the day and who could share. Let’s hope they do.
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I think a lot of guys reading this blog will have been living here in never never land for a while (like myself). After a while its natural that we wonder how Bangkok used to be? Were there stunning young fillies hanging au naturel on every street corner, did there use to be 20 girl on girl shows and Bernard the Donkey preforming his nightly four step blow out for the punters to watch. We also wonder if there’s a secret Shangri La of crumpet in some back street sitting in there birthday suits waiting for a slightly pudgy English gent to save them from the tedium of having to drink from the furry cup night after night.
But the truth maybe that we forget the time when we were fresh of the Boat (FOB) and walking around Nana, Cowboy, (not Patpong) looking like a boy whose father had just accidentally left a B rate softporn in the VCR . Back in my homeland there are places where Tracey (46 Mother of 4, 85 kilos and face like Bernard’s arse) will charge me 75 US Greens to wiggle her robust arse in my face for 15 minutes whilst saying “Ooo aren’t I sexy baby?’
I ramble but what I was trying to say was when we get back on the Boat to see mates back home 7 days later you realise that never never land is a place where you never want to be a boy cause you can have so much fun as a man
View all comments by Coley
There used to be, in the ’80s a nightclub/disco (can’t remember the name) very near The Oriental. It was a place that was nominally for married guests of “The Big O” to go and wealthy Thais but it attracted the young crowd who could afford it. Anyway, there were a lot of girls who freelanced there to make extra spending cash. They were not pros in the normal (Thai) sense of the word…just looking for fun and a way to get some of their own cash that didn’t come from Daddy.
Anyway, since the Big O has an 11:00pm eviction notice for all non-registered guests, this was quite a challange. I met a typically beautiful Chinese/Thai girl who, having decided that B2000 of her own was a priority, checked into the hotel with HER credit card for about B5000 (@25/1 in those days) and then proceeded to have her way with me in MY room. Since she was a registered guest, there wasn’t much the Big O could do.
She told her father it was a business dinner for clients. I used to see her regularly when I went to BKK. I have buddies who had the same thing happen at the “no naughty life” hotels.
View all comments by The Asian Badger
May I start by saying how much I enjoy this site. It’s well written very amusing, and informative in a way no travel book could possibly be. Now I’m ‘pegging-on’ a bit, [I'm 62], your collective blogs have brought back so many fond memories.
I served in the RN from ‘61 to ‘77 spending 5 of those years in the Far-East on various ships.To get to the point, I think cost-wise things were far better in ‘my’ day. The only trouble was, the miniscule wages we were paid,- that did cramp your style. I spent most of my time in Hongkong and Singapore,- two places I got to know very well. My one visit to Bangkok [a matter of 2 weeks] was in ‘67, the Vietnam war was starting to really hot-up, and much better paid US personnel were popping up everywhere killing our runs ashore.
I remember one night, sex reared it’s ugly head in a bar[don't ask me where], and off we rode into the night. On arrival at the hotel, all went well, and I gave my all for Queen and country. The next job was to wash,-[having been at sea for quite a while my "broardside" was rather heavy]. Trouble was the copper pipes to the basin taps [faucets] were of poor quality, there was no shower. The young lady started to whine,”number 10 hotel”-which was the vernacular in those parts for “no good”. I noticed [in my slightly blurred state] that the pipe was pinched, thus accounting for the lack of flow. Being a young dumb stoker,[who thought he could fix anything] I grasped the pipe and endevoured to squeeze it to a round section again……..The pipe snapped,- for a few minutes the room resembled the depth-charging scene from “Das Boot”. I finally lucked-out and found the shut-off valve,[we stayed afloat]………
I was still feeling frisky after all that, and after much pleading the young lady allowed me a second ‘go’ on a ’sticky-wicket’. We left quickly and quietly after that, gawd knows what the manager must have made of that lake on the floor……
Now I’m just retired, I often wonder about going back to the old ’stomping-grounds’, will I be dissappointed or not? What do you think guys? Now I’m crippled with arthritus, will you all be there to hold me up?
Yuk Yuk.
View all comments by "Stokes"
Stokes: Thanks for sharing. Always interesting hearing stories from the past.
Hard to say if you would be disappointed if you came back now. I know it wouldn’t be an age thing since there are many 60+ Punters around. Just hang out at the Soi 7 biergarten and you will see what I mean.
From listening to some of the more experienced Punters it seems there is still a bit of the “old days” around to ensure similar experiences to the past. The Suk Soi 4 beer bars like Golden Bar and Big Dogs, Suk Soi 7 biergarten, Soi 6 in Pattaya, Patpong 2 (although you may be disappointed in Patpong from what it was in the past), Nana Hotel lobby and car park, and the many massage shops and soapies offer the same kind of offerings as in the past.
Nowadays though there is a trend towards expensive member clubs, medium to upscale freelancer joints, and after hours freelancer discos. These places may not be your cup of tea. Perhaps there were similar places in the past, not sure, but this new scene is relatively more expensive and faster paced.
Overall, I think you can find a comfort zone here still but defer to other folks on the blog that may have a better insight. Good luck and hope you make it here again and if you do please let us know how it turned out.
View all comments by pmmp