What has changed in Thailand since your first visit?

[Joe 90]

My underpants.

You're kidding no one.

[helge]

Any Ya Ba about all those years ago ?

[Joe 90]

Any Ya Ba about all those years ago ?

Wasn't it all Opium and Smack dens back in Cyrilles day?

[helge]

And Kloster

[Fondles]

Any Ya Ba about all those years ago ?

Was sold legally at petrol stations up until 1970.

[Hugh Cow]

Bourbon st is now in Ekamai But last time I was there Doug was still there with an interesting selection of Bourbons. More modern premises but I miss the old place in Washington Square. There use to be an open air bar on the corner of the soi and the square. I think it was Dennys.

[armstrong]

Bourbon st is now in Ekamai But last time I was there Doug was still there with an interesting selection of Bourbons. More modern premises but I miss the old place in Washington Square. There use to be an open air bar on the corner of the soi and the square. I think it was Dennys.

I walked past the other day and it's got big windows now. Bit more upmarket than before.

I went there for a pint while my wife rested and my new born daughter was being cleaned up many years ago.

[Barty]

In 1990-92 I was working in Myanmar. For my rotation time off I would fly into Bangkok, stay overnight at the Federal Hotel on soi 11, and then catch the bus at the Ekamai station and go to Pattaya. At that time the only practical way to Pattaya was driving up Sukhumvit road, getting on Bangna Trat tollway, which had a 3 Baht toll and drive through all the coastal villages in Chonburi to get to Pattaya. The trip would take about 4 hours. Today, the same trip is under 2 hours, including a stop at the halfway point on the motorway.

In Pattaya I rented a cheap apartment in soi 6. It was beside and above the Bull Ring bar. On soi 6 there were only two girly bars, Bull Ring, and King Kong. The street had restaurants, sports bars, furniture shops, and a deep sea fishing outfit run by a German gentleman. Last year, I visited Pattaya to meet up with a friend. Stayed in a hotel close to the dolphin round about on second road. When I had a bit of free time, I walked to soi 6 to take a look and see what was still there. Surprisingly, the whole street is end to end hookers. All of the places that I remember except the King Kong bar are gone. I had heard that soi 6 had changed, but I hadn’t realized that it had changed that much.

[cyrille]

Soi 6 has been a zoo for nigh on 20 years, then.

Not a petting zoo for anyone not completely pissed.

[klong toey]

They changed the tyres on the No 38 bus.
Yesterday.

[david44]

Mittweida a tidy lager type premuin ale long gone

Hoppiness in an ass

Named after Ostees fave



So much better than Chang Leo or Singha it vanished

[dirk diggler]

no more cold towels when ya enter a bar.

My bars still have those, Pai-yen!

One-Two-Go Airlines. (flight 269 crashed at Phuket airport killing 90/130 passengers).

Bob at the Hog's Breath in Nana Plaza (now Spanky's)

People following me around Songkhla just to look at me.

1 2 Call Mobile Network

7/11 selling ham cheese toasties wrapped in clingfilm from ice-cream boxes, which you could load up with onions from the ketchup stand before they toasted them.

Open drains.

Samui before one-way systems

The magic tricks stall on Sukhumvit near Nana

Thai girls got fat.

[helge]

Samui before one-way systems

What's that ?

[dirk diggler]

In Chaweng or Lamai, you could jump on your scooter and zoom up and down the main beach roads as you liked.

Then they introduced one way systems so you have to go all the way around the back road/ring road to get back to the start again.

I do get that you're being sarcastic about the actual adherence to one way systems in Thailand, but it's not really possible to go against them in Samui. Too much traffic.

[BLD]

Wasn't it all Opium and Smack dens back in Cyrilles day?

A bit of opium smoking if you went trekking up in Chang rai. A bit of adventure getting to the village in a boat, an elephant ride and a bit of walking. 10 baht for a pipe I recall. Never saw or heard of ya ba as it is now but in phuket at the bar I used to hang out I was Introduced to a pill that could be bought at the pharmacy called Captagons which were actually a German slimming tablet. Pop 2 of those rascals and you wouldn't sleep for days. Food was the last thing on yer mind also. The comedown was brutal thank fook they stopped selling them
At least to me.

[david44]

People following me around Songkhla just to look at me.

Sorry I was just missing Ginger Nutz, as I aged my lovely Red Locks turned gray.
I'll send ypu some Grease o 2000 to libe your Xams stockings would you like it regular or VIP smear n GO! with Stoned Ginger Wine of Bucky tho?

[dirk diggler]

Can you just send the Bucky?

The OIM on here has a huge ginger mop and beard.

He’s practically a highland cow.

[Troy]

Any Ya Ba about all those years ago ?

I've only been visiting Thailand since the late 90's but Ya Ba was about then, just not as common as it is today where I visit.

I rarely stay in Bangkok or in Pattaya or in the seaside resorts further south. I fell in love with the village life of NE Thailand, the "bug eaters" as SA likes to refer to them. It was the life that I recalled from my childhood in rural Norfolk and I enjoyed being remote from the rest of the world, from life, for a few months of the year. It was a break from the rat race of Europe and the USA (my work meant I was frequently hopping between UK and USA).

Cannabis was grown on the banks of the paddy fields when I first arrived, although it was not long later that it was banned. I was not there when opium was grown in the fields close to the Mekong, the King and Queen had this stopped and so tobacco was grown instead. Those tobacco fields have also long gone today, or at least I haven't seen them for years.

We used to be 12km from the nearest concrete road apart for the strips in front of the Headman's house. It used to be the way of knowing where the Headman of each village lived years ago. Now many of the back roads are concrete and more and more cars and trucks pass by. It has brought many of the things I dislike closer and many of the things I love further away. Luckily, I bought another piece of land that is even more remote and can find solitude there if required. That is my little butterfly retreat that I haven't managed to visit for a couple of years due to workload with the grand niece's cancer.

[helge]

Cannabis

Bloody good, it was.

opium

Only experienced it north of Chiang Mai, but I never looked for it anywhere else.

10 baht a pipe.

The mushrooms on omelette were everywhere on the islands.

Video nights in all backpacker restaurants.

Friday the 13th and mushrooms ?

Not for me


Can't remember any YaBa from back in 86 till 2000.

Must have been there during the Thaksin years.

Wasn't on my antenna

[malmomike77]

Cars. Chiang Mai mornings used to involve waves of motorcycles and nary a car. Now it is a jam of cars! Samlors could be seen all over the city.

Agreed, cars were for the rich, motorcys where a family transport and not just parked for the kids to use or run to the shop.

Consumerism wasn't really a thing as there wasn't so much disposable income, as Sausages says consumer debt has helped here.

Thais seemed more traditional and polite in the 80/90s even to 2000s.

Plastic, its everywhere now.

Monks have become businessmen.

You can't buy a Rai on untitled land for under 30K THB now

Chain Restos everywhere

More kids going to Uni but standards haven't improved

Pick Ups are better

Automatic Motorcys

Beer has got less alcoholic by volume

Beef has got better

[Norton]

Beer has got less alcoholic by volume

Easily remedied with a very inexpensive chaser.

[malmomike77]

^ eh, don't you just pour it over ice in a pint glass before you pour in the Chang?

[Seekingasylum]

Back in 1968 I could buy ganja and methedrine tabs from the boys in Geylang, Bugis Strasse was great fun playing with the trannies and drinking warm Tigers cadged off Brit RN ratings on shore leave from Sembawang, and getting pissed on Friday night for a bit of dutch courage before the dance at RAF Changi youth club to the RAF band musicians playing Louie Louie, and copping a feel.

Ah Singapore…..nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.

[happynz]

Back in the day it was common to see dozens of young women standing in the back of a large songtaew headed off to the world's largest tuna canning factory. There would be a songtaew with women kitted out in blue, another songtaew loaded with women in yellow, and yet another with women in pink. I think Dirk Diggler lives in Songkhla. Is that big fish canning factory halfway between Songkhla and Hat Yai still going?

[misskit]

Thais seemed more traditional and polite in the 80/90s even to 2000s.

Monks have become businessmen.

Beef has got better

At least people don’t get pushed out of shape because of your feet being pointed in the wrong direction or at the wrong height anymore.

Monks were always businessmen.

Thai beef, yes, what a change. It is indeed now possible to get nice local beef!