Thailand over the years

[Damen]

It's always interesting to hear old war stories. While I wasn?t shitting green in my diapers back in 78, I was much too young to know about LOS. Matter of fact, I think that was about the time I was jacking off to I dream of Genie in front of my 12" black and white TV set. Ahhh Baraba Eden.

 

Anyhow, I'm sure things have changed dramatically since your first visit. I know people have a tendency to romanticize the past...?Back in my day, blah, blah, blah? but you seem to be pretty balanced. How do you think the LOS of today measures up from when you first set foot here? Would you rather be back in 78 or have there been enough positive changes to offset the negatives?

 

One thing is for sure, the only constant is change.

[Old Hippie]

Hugh_Hoy said:

1972--Siam Intercontinental Hotel: 180 baht ($9 U.S.); 2- hour "soapie" across the street: 40 baht ($2) + 100-150 FS;

 

Mid 80's--Soi Cowboy: Beer, 30-35 baht; LD, 30 baht; LT, 500 (very standard without any mention in advance and understood that everything was LT unless you said otherwise).

 

HH

 

Wasn'ttheexchange rate about 20/1usd then? seems the prices were higherback then, in terms of real dollars, adjusted for inflation etc/crap...

[-.-.-]

At the risk of dating myself....remember when you could drive your car and park IN THE FUCKING STREET in Soi Cowboy?

 

Nothing worse than having to have at least one drink inside the bar you parked in front of.

 

An even greater challenge....how many of you remember when Tilac was half the size it is now?

[soi_hound]

damen said:

Anyhow, I'm sure things have changed dramatically since your first visit. I know people have a tendency to romanticize the past...?Back in my day, blah, blah, blah? but you seem to be pretty balanced. How do you think the LOS of today measures up from when you first set foot here? Would you rather be back in 78 or have there been enough positive changes to offset the negatives?

Thailand to me is a lot more exciting now than it was in 78. Of course thats relative (as a 22 year old back then I'm sure I was pretty damn excited). The amount of pussy, choice and venues on offer today dwarfs that of 78. Shopping, food, communications, facilities are superior today to what they were in 78. But zooming around town took minutes rather than hours now. A lot, lot less tourists then than now, so I guess one may have felt a bit more attention from the girls then.. and bare back sex was superior to latex sex. You can always find pluses and minuses to either periods. Overall though, I think I'd prefer the Thailand of today. ::

[soi_hound]

BuffHello said:

did you go to Supergirls when it first opened ?

wow what a place, very hot gals and the live sex show on the bike with the guy with the John Holmes size member shaging the gal on the bike. had some good time sin there. now its pretty grimey.

I dont remember Supergirls. I remember the Pink Panther (as far back as '81 or 82).

 

"I like the smell of latex and KY in the morning"

 

ha ha, cool sig.

[Hugh_Hoy]

soi_hound said:Thailand to me is a lot more exciting now than it was in 78. Of course thats relative (as a 22 year old back then I'm sure I was pretty damn excited). The amount of pussy, choice and venues on offer today dwarfs that of 78. Shopping, food, communications, facilities are superior today to what they were in 78. But zooming around town took minutes rather than hours now. A lot, lot less tourists then than now, so I guess one may have felt a bit more attention from the girls then.. and bare back sex was superior to latex sex. You can always find pluses and minuses to either periods. Overall though, I think I'd prefer the Thailand of today. ::

 

I'd have to agree with all of above...maybe not more "exciting", cuz I was pretty friggin' "excited" on my first arrival (1970) :: Guys up in Udonthani claimed to be getting "live-ins" for a week for a pair of crummy canvas shoes !

 

OH...yep, 20-1.

 

Himitsu...I might be wrong, but I think Tilac was (until '86) ONE-THIRD it's present size. That is, I think it went from one shop to a 3-shop layout about then. Suzi Wong and Darling were the first "double" bars there. Lots of "hole-in-the-wall" joints.

 

Buff-hello...? U thinking about "Superstar" on The Pong...next to the Sportsman? My buddy wouldn't go in there. Said that there was too much of a chance that he'd run into his high school-attending sons They, indeed, had some hot chicks in that place!

 

HH

[The_Munchmaster]

teddy said: Apart from the one near the Zoo in Dubai?

 

Duh. That's not a lady home, that's just a house full of tourists who want to make a bit of extra spending money!

[BuffHello]

i think i preffered BKK back in the 80s ,it was really off the wall!

no restrictions anywhere ?bars open all night and a more plentiful supply of GFEs, no mobiles !no internet!

it really was the mystical east !no western eateries or western stuff.

now its just a outpost of the western multinationsals with increasing restrictions.

very few tourists then ,less than a million total.

[BuffHello]

Supergirls is the place with the chopper bike above the door in the pong.

the live show was the best i have ever seen in LOS.

very elaborate stage sets.

and i dont know where they found the thai guy performer with the ginormous todger !

[Guest]

I certainly don't go that far back, but I have lived here over 10 years, and the one thing that strikes me about your depiction of Thailand circa 1978 and what I have seen during my time year, is the substantial proliferation of the nightlife scene here. Despite the new social order crackdowns, there are substantially more bars and pubs now than in the past. And those bars and pubs wouldn?t be there unless there was substantial demand for them. They are the bedrock of Thailand?s tourism industry.

 

As much as I complain about the new social order policies, I do think that, notwithstanding those idiotic policies, Bangkok is more interesting and more varied than it was ten years ago. Like many places, Thailand is more integrated into the global economy now, which means that market forces are more effective in tempering misguided policies. Unless someone does something really stupid, I expect Thailand?s nightlife to get even better, richer and more varied in the years to come.