Early travels in Asia circa 1980's

[Bangyai]

Up in the loft back in the U.K. I dug out some old photos taken with a cheap 16mm cartridge compact camera from back in the early 80's.

Terrible quality , but they bought back some memories :

One of the first places I ended up in Asia was Phuket in 1979. Not too many tourists about then and a friend and myself stayed at Rawai beach in a primative bamboo shack for 100 baht a night.

One day we took the then dirt track over the hill to Nai Harn beach which at that time looked like this






Never been back there since but I would imagine its changed quite a lot since then.

Once back in England I couldn't settle down and ended up back in Thailand on a monger ticket. Wasn't long before my cash was gone and I had to do some Tefling. Here's a picture from one of the schools Christmas parties with me on the guitar on the right.




There's a free green for anyone who can recognise the falang in the red bowtie.
He always said it was his aim to break into Thai television and he did , although at this time he couldn't speak a word of the lingo. He can now though and has a regular spot on a well known show and sometimes appears in films.

On weekends when not chained to the classroom, motorcycle trips around the country were pretty frequent. This one was with two mates on a camping trip to Khao Yai during which we got lost and rather than double back crossed a canal with our bikes on a small boat. One false move would have ended very badly.










After this picture two of us ended up pretty plastered before the skies opened , the rented tent collapsed and we had to seek refuge in Pak Chong. How we survived that ride I'll never know.

Another long ride started in Bangkok, headed to Nong Kai , then followed the Mae Kong down to Ubon. East of Ubon the border with Laos was still closed and the communists wouldn't let anyone in. This was as far as you could go




A long trip on 125's and we ended up putting the bikes on the train to get back to Bangkok.


Weekdays we had to put up with more local entertainment. All roads seemed to end in Thermaes though.




One of my regulars here was the aptly named ' Hoy '





Sadly for her , the booze got to her and last I heard she was in a pretty bad way.


Another girl who I often ended up with was the one on the right here.




We went shopping together at the Mall in Ramkamheng once. She insisted on showing me something at the back of the store on the top floor. I was soon facing a long bit of white painted wall behind some toys. It was about 15 metres long and she proudly told me that she had done the plastering herself when the place was being build and she was a paid plasterer. Bit of a career change somewhere along the line.

When tefling got boring I moved to Pattaya for a change of scene. I once barfined a girl from the Barrel Bar in Patpong who later that night got sick and so no oats were sown. Instead I had to nurse her all night and find somewhere that sold imodium to settle her stomach. As a reward for my patience she came and stayed with me a week in my hovel in Nah Klua for free. No prizes for where this picture of her was taken.




When the money was low again I thought I might do a bit of Tefling in Taiwan as the wages were rumoured to be better. They were but the cost of living made it an expensive place to live. Luckily, I fell in with a waitress from a breakfast bar who let me stay with her. Nice girl Kitten




who lived in Taipei somewhere along this street

[Simon43]

Great photos! I remember travelling around Laos and Vietnam in the middle/late 80s with my English wife - must have taken loads of photos - I'll ask her if she still has them

[Bangyai]

Sometime in the early eighties when I found myself a bit flush I went over to the Philippines. Didn't see much of Manila which looked a bit run down . Did check out the Chinese cemetary though. This was about the only clean looking , well kept place I saw.







In the evenings there was a place that functioned like Thermaes and I soon ended up there a lot. Raymonds has probably gone now but it was well known at the time




After Manila , my nose caught a whiff of something and that led me to Angeles City. Anyone who's been there will know where this was taken so another easy green for somebody




No shortage of watering holes and in those days San Miguel was 2 pesos a bottle and there were something like 30 pesos to the pound. As a friend put it,

" You can't afford to drink water in this place "

Here's Marissa with one of our empties.




Bit of a boring place though with little to do except get thoroughly wasted.
After a while of doing that I met a very nice potential traveling companion by the name of Alma









We left Angeles and decided to take a boat to Puerto Guillera.




We were disappointed when we got there as apart from a couple of o.k. beaches , it was a bit of a dump so we backtracked to Luzon and flew down to Cebu City. Down the west coast we ended up at Moabual and spent some time here with a Kanuk biker friend, now sadly dead but died with his boots on

Nice little beach here.




and the usual cheap bungalows.





Looking at these pictures bought back a lot of things I'd forgotten about.

Time changes everything and I think I prefered the world as it was rather than as it is .
Still, glad I saw these places when they were not as crowded and the world seemed a slightly bigger place.

[Simon43]

Time changes everything and I think I prefered the world as it was rather than as it is

Bangyai, if you want to see beaches that are still like that, then pop over to Myanmar, (actually, most beaches are nowhere near as developed as the ones in your old photos!)

I go over to south Myanmar every week now and the beaches are totally deserted, (which might have something to do with the rainy season of course), but more because there are .. well ... no foreign tourists at all ... (yet)

[SEA Traveler]

Thanks Bangyai. Nice touch. I had similar travels in early 70's but photos got trashed somewhere along the way. Too many moves to too many overseas locations.

[aging one]

Mine to are gone. Saved at a friends house in the Oakland Hills. Burned down like 18 years ago. All the photos of 78-82.

[Chairman Mao]

Class thread mate! Cheers.

[Albert Shagnastier]

^Wot he said

[Lostandfound]

The pics of Nai Harn, Phuket deserves a thread in its own right - "How to totally fuck up a beach paradise".

The Thais have scored A plus on that, at least.

[Yasojack]

I still have a load of pics of Koh samui back in the early eighties, what a beautiful place it was, beaches deserted no girlie bars that i knew of, and very friendly Thais that were not just looking for the dollar.

[Rural Surin]

Great nostalgia pics!
I can relate..

Thanks, B!

[withnallstoke]

Probably the best lost pictures i've seen.
Thanks for giving us a glimpse.

[Lostandfound]

Looking at this picture today, after visiting Nai Harn anytime since 1995 is enough to make you weep. Or, at the very least, just go elsewhere for your holidays.

[jizzybloke]

Love threads like this, Thanks for sharing your memories with us Bangyai!

Alma was a good looking girl!

[dobella]

Brilliant, loved seeing all these pics. and reading about it all.

[OhOh]

Thank you banyai for your views of life in Thailand and the stories.

I still have a load of pics of Koh samui back in the early eighties,

I am sure the photos and your reminiscences would be very welcome here.

[bushwacker]

Great pics ... thanks for sharing!

[Boon Mee]

Excellent, K. Bangyai!

[ltnt]

Well done. Enjoyed the presentation and narrative. Glad someone saved the history.

[Bangyai]

Love threads like this, Thanks for sharing your memories with us Bangyai!

Alma was a good looking girl!

She was indeed......had a great personality as well. Kind hearted and not an ounce of malice or greed in her.

Still.....now I've exposed her I suppose I'd better even the slate by showing a pic from another tefler party. At this one we brewed our own beer from some lager beer kits and cooked about 80 burgers on a griddle for the students. Here's the climax of the baby cowboy contest where the winning ajarn exposed all




That was quiet a party as I remember.


I have a lot of other old pictures in the loft but these were the ones that bought back memories. After all, nobody would be interested in a ' Bangyais Babes ' thread ........................... would they ?

[Thetyim]

^

Yes......if it includes phone numbers

[Bangyai]

Still a couple of unclaimed greens up for grabs. Here's a clue to the identity of the falang in the 3rd picture.

[terry57]

Blast from the past. Brilliant

[Bangyai]

^

Yes......if it includes phone numbers

Wouldn't do you much good TY unless you like ladies in their 50's


In all seriousness, I can honestly say that some of the girls I met back then were really nice human beings. I often wonder what happened to some of them and whether they got the good fortune they deserved. God bless them all , even the one that gave me herpes.....what a pocket rocket she was !

[The Fresh Prince]

Still a couple of unclaimed greens up for grabs. Here's a clue to the identity of the falang in the 3rd picture.

David something...?