Thai Song Greet

[Mid]

Not so long back in a thread on cheap Bangkok hotels, Mid mentioned that he had stayed in another well known old hippy haven, the Thai Song Greet guest house. That fact alone tells me that Mid is no spring chicken anymore because the Thai Song Greet closed its doors a long time ago but the place is still there in the little soi next to the massage parlour if he's ever feeling nostalgic

https://teakdoor.com/bangkok-forum/75...d-bangkok.html (Another walk through old Bangkok.)

which becomes this on Google :

Another walk through old Bangkok. - TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum
2 posts - 1 author - Last post: 22 minutes ago
Not so long back in a thread on cheap Bangkok hotels, Mid mentioned that he had stayed in another well known old hippy haven, the Thai Song Greet guest ...
teakdoor.com/.../75800-another-walk-through-old-bangkok.html - 22 minutes ago


and finally this from the interweb


Thai Song Greet Hotel 1980 photo


Source: Bruce Comstock

Long before Khao San Road, before the Malaysia Hotel, the Thai Song Greet was the original backpacker's hotel. It's reputation spread by word of mouth among travellers when there was still no Lonely Planet Guide to Thailand, and by the time the first edition of that guide was published in 1982, the TSG was already gone.

A 1966 New York Times article referred to its worldwide reputation among young "beatnik" travellers. One of the first guidebooks catering to "backpackers", 1974's Asia on the Cheap called it "one of the most popular hotels for shoestring sojourners", but also "pretty rowdy and grubby". From these early days of the hippie trail in the 1960s up until it's demise in late 1980, backpackers made this Chinese hotel near the train station their home. Back then a room with a double bed cost 30 baht. The shared toilet and shower were down the hall, one at each end.

The restaurant downstairs was a meeting point for travellers. The beers were in a refrigerator and you had to help yourself. The bottles were not taken away until it was time to pay and the bill was calculated by the number of empty bottles on the table. The cook sat to one side of the entrance. In the sixties he was a fat man with a huge scar across his torso, known as "Charlie", or more unkindly as "Gruesome". After a heart attack in 1970 he was replaced by another cook with a large goiter on his neck, possibly also know as "Charlie" or "Gruesome". By all accounts, both were excellent cooks.

Though the Thai Song Greet Hotel is long gone, there are still a few Chinese hotels of the same style in the train station area, such as the Sri Hualampong. However, the backpackers have moved on to cleaner and more comfortable digs and the Thai Song Greet will forever remain one of a kind.

Location of TSG 2006



Location of TSG 2006



The Entrance


Source: unknown

The Restaurant


Source: Bruce Comstock

Business Card 1980


Source: Bruce Comstock


oldbangkok.com

[Bangyai]

Hmmmm.... thats interesting Mid. I seem to have erred in my placement of the TSG. Maybe I was thinking of the Pepsi or one of the other old Lonely Planet favourites ? Sorry for the bum steer. I guess theres only one thing for it and thats to check out that soi again to find out the identity of the place I was thinking of.

Now all we need is for someone to start a thread on the Malaysia Hotel, the Blue Fox ( who I once sold some porno mags to ) and Charles Sobhraj .

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


Just done a search and found this which confirms I was thinking of the Pepsi .

The "Pepsi Hotel" is designated by the standard Pepsi-Cola sign that hangs over the stairway entrance. It simply says "Pepsi" at the top, and "Hotel" at the bottom. Like most Chinese hotels, the rooms are upstairs above a tiny restaurant. The common toilet was fairly crude and the manager a bit brusque, but we enjoyed a soft bed, a fan, and a verandah perched over a clamorous alley in Chinatown. As evening fell, the clatter softened outside, and the mingled aromas of frying foods wafted up on the balmy night air.
On our last visit, we arrived in Bangkok at 7 am to find no vacancy at the slumbering 'Pepsi Hotel'. So we wandered down the street to discover yet another obscure Chinese hotel.

http://ease.com/~randyj/bangkok.htm

[teddy]

In the background:

[Mid]

the Malaysia Hotel,

always full , but you could find a room to share on the notice board in the foyer .

and Charles Sobhraj .

Nepal is another story , Pig Alley ?

[ChalkyDee]

How old is Khaao San Road?

I first went there in 92.


And BTW "never trust a hippy"