Bangkok Then And Now (1984-2011)

**jizzybloke** · 29-09-2011, 01:14 AM

Nice thread, Grumpy Bill should join and contribute instead of just lurking!

**Tickiteboo** · 29-09-2011, 01:34 AM

Good effort Bobcock/Grumpy - facinating thread. Love the old pics, shows how much BKK has changed in what is a relatively short period. To think I was a young 21 year old back then and yet the cars look so old-fashioned.
Agree with jizzy, Bill should join up, I'm sure he's got some great tales to tell.

**Looper** · 29-09-2011, 03:03 AM

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Originally Posted by BobR

Sadly Patpong is dying and seems to be a mere shell of what it was just 6 years ago...

You gotta go back further than that like to when the Mississippi Queen closed down.

The Vibe in Patpong changed around that time...

I don't remember the Mississipi Queen but they put glass across the front of the previously open plan pizzeria in Patpong 1 in 2010 and that was when the place started to go downhill for me

**Benayahu** · 29-09-2011, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by Tickiteboo

Good effort Bobcock/Grumpy - facinating thread. Love the old pics, shows how much BKK has changed in what is a relatively short period. To think I was a young 21 year old back then and yet the cars look so old-fashioned.
Agree with jizzy, Bill should join up, I'm sure he's got some great tales to tell.

Agreed! Thanks Bob. Although I am a bit young to have been walking the streets of Bangers in 1984, it is still fascinating to see the sometimes big differences, and in other pictures quite small differences between then and now.

Def notice a lot less tuk tuks now compared to back then with the introduction of the Sky Train I guess.

peace, MavenGuy

**Bettyboo** · 29-09-2011, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by jizzybloke

Grumpy Bill should join and contribute instead of just lurking!

Looks like Grumpy Bill was 'lurkin around' in 1984 too...

**phomsanuk** · 29-09-2011, 09:32 PM

I visited BKK in the late 70's, it was "dirty" then and still is but I love it.
They had "Soapys" then and now to wash it off.

**deepee** · 29-09-2011, 11:06 PM

Can any of you guys remember when the Dusit Hotel was the tallest building in town ( in respect to the owners)and when taxi and truck drivers all sat side saddle in their seats - so Buddha could get to the wheel and be the driver ??

**k1klass** · 03-10-2011, 11:17 PM

nice pics, look forward to more

**Phrakhanong** · 04-10-2011, 07:22 AM

Originally Posted by deepee

Can any of you guys remember when the Dusit Hotel was the tallest building in town ( in respect to the owners)and when taxi and truck drivers all sat side saddle in their seats - so Buddha could get to the wheel and be the driver ??

The Dusit and Chokchai (Sukhumvit) buildings were built around about the same time... Chokchai I think came first... sometime during the Vietnam conflict (maybe 71?) because the US military occupied it. Dusit I think came slightly after... maybe 73. Anyway, Chokchai was the tallest building based on overall floors and Dusit Thani was the tallest building overall (taking into account the spire on top).

I can't remember which building then surpassed Chokchai and Dusit... I don't think the first Bayoke apartments were taller (built in the 80s), but there may have been some buildings around Silom/Sathorn in the early 80s that eclipsed them, and certainly some of the apartments in Sukhumvit in the later 80s.

**FlyFree** · 04-10-2011, 07:33 AM

Interesting thread.

I notice that there seems to be a lot more sunshine in 2011 than there was in 1984. Is this the effect of global warming?

**Mozzbie47** · 04-10-2011, 09:02 AM

Excellent, Noticable increase in the traffic since the first pics were taken.

**kingwilly** · 04-10-2011, 09:30 AM

Here's the book I mentioned, the title is exactly the same as this thread, so I assume that Bobcock was referring to it deliberately.

Steve Van Beek

**kingwilly** · 04-10-2011, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by FlyFree

Interesting thread.

I notice that there seems to be a lot more sunshine in 2011 than there was in 1984. Is this the effect of global warming?

I'd say more to do with pollution and haze, nowt to do with so called global warming.

**Bobcock** · 04-10-2011, 01:42 PM

I was not referring to the book.

I also suggest the weather in the photos looks different because

A) random days how on earth can you compare weather from one day in 1987 to one day in 2011 in possibly different seasons

B) different cameras from different eras and Bill's a better photographer than he was then

**khmen** · 04-10-2011, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Bobcock

I have many many pictures like this, particularly in Phuket. Sadly my negatives are all in storage and I won't be able to access them until I return to the UK and take possession of my house.....

Grumpy Bill has been working through these pics and has many many more to go......

Excellent, really interesting thread Bobcock.

**Shy Guava** · 04-10-2011, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by Bobcock

From the same location. Note the second building on the left was being constructed at the time. Good view of the shitty old taxis of the day. Few and far between I never ever used one. In those days tuk tuk drivers were considered more trustworthy.

1984

2011

Pleased to see that it looks like the Rose Hotel has disappeared. I had to negotiate a few short term loans in there in the early 70s. What a dump - it looked like a jail inside and slowly got overrun with farang poofters.
There was a nice little bar in behind the Saudia office called the Eden, but no relation to the one now in Sukhumvit 7/1. At least I don't remember any yellow lines but I was always pissed when I was in there.

**IceSpike** · 04-10-2011, 06:07 PM

Awesome!
So kool, the tuk tuk from Don Muang International would take 2-3 hours to Pussy Galore!
No Taxis!

**FlyFree** · 04-10-2011, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

Originally Posted by FlyFree

Interesting thread.

I notice that there seems to be a lot more sunshine in 2011 than there was in 1984. Is this the effect of global warming?

I'd say more to do with pollution and haze, nowt to do with so called global warming.

Interesting observation.

**DJ Pat** · 05-10-2011, 08:24 AM

Love these kinds of pictures, I could go through some of my older pics of Bangkok / Pattaya and visit the same spots to take a few ''now'' pics...Hmmm..and I land in 3 wks.

**DJ Pat** · 05-10-2011, 08:25 AM

I got a few pics of Bkk / Pattaya from a few years back, 1998..could be too soon for the 'now' pics but I land in 3wks....Hmmm

**DJ Pat** · 05-10-2011, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by sabaii sabaii

Nice pics Bob, apart from Sobrhaj

He's a fukkin serial killer,I hope he rots in hell.

I never understood the fascination with scum. If it was your family would you buy the books ?

But he lives on through Pat's music, so i hear

What music? ''Jailbreak'' or ''Murder on the dancefloor'' possibly.

**khmen** · 05-10-2011, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

Love these kinds of pictures, I could go through some of my older pics of Bangkok / Pattaya and visit the same spots to take a few ''now'' pics...Hmmm..and I land in 3 wks.

Yeah, go for it if you get time. This is a great thread idea-the more the merrier I say!

**DJ Pat** · 05-10-2011, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

Here's the book I mentioned, the title is exactly the same as this thread, so I assume that Bobcock was referring to it deliberately.

Steve Van Beek

I took a look and the site likes opening up webpages left right and centre!!

**sunsetter** · 06-10-2011, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by BobR

Sadly Patpong is dying and seems to be a mere shell of what it was just 6 years ago, when I first came here. Many of the bars have closed, the girls in those that are still open now wear full bikini tops and bottoms while dancing and the numbers of white male foreigners have gone down to a fraction of what it was.
Then there's the mentality which says we have fewer customers so we need to thoroughly rip off those few we still have.

went once, in 1999 on my first trip to thailand, loved it, picked a no 18, forget which bar! since then, had a few wanders through with various visiting friends and family, stopped for a few rip off shows with them. walked through after visiting fresh prince early this year and wasnt even persuaded to stop anywhere,just didnt do anything for me at all

**DJ Pat** · 06-10-2011, 01:35 AM

Does anyone have any pre-Skytrain pics of Bangkok? I mean pics of the main roads before the skytrain went up along them? Love this kind of thing!

Thread: Bangkok Then And Now (1984-2011)

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