Once ashore at
Khlong Toey one was beseiged on the wharf by Thai owner drivers, (as
opposed to taxis) most of which had a deal going with the hotels and
massage parlours in Petchaburi Road. The vehicles were mainly large
'Yank Tanks' and after negotiating a deal we left the navigating to
him. He would be into you as soon as you got in the car. There was
nothing that wasn't for sale. I guess this had something to
do with providing for R&R grunts fresh from the killing grounds
of Vietnam, their every concievable wish was catered for.
During the R&R
Days there were plenty of good cheap hotels and certainly no shortage
of massage parlours. The kind where sometimes up to one hundred girls
dressed in their evening gowns sit behind a soundproof glass window
in plush surroundings watching TV, chatting with their mates, reading
magazines and waiting for their number to be called. A 24 hour escort
and tour guide would cost around 400 - 500 Baht $A20-25, with an option
to extend. Beers cost around 20 baht or $A1.00 which was damned expensive!
Towards the end
of the Vietnam War and sometime after there was much political turmoil
in Thailand and on a few visits we were heavily restricted in where
we were allowed to go due to the serious rioting and violence. In
HMAS Stuart in July 1974 the situation on the streets was so
bad they were not going
to allow us ashore at all. Since we had just been at sea for six weeks
the ship's company threatened a mass walk off should they not grant
leave. The powers that be eventually did and we streamed off to the
New World Hotel and had a great time whilst people died on the other
side of the city. Patpong Road, the infamous 'night club area' would
often be out of bounds, however it did little to stop the 'thrill
seekers'.
Just outside
the docks at Khlong Toey was the shabby Mosquito Bar and was a good
place to avoid if one wished not to visit sick bay in the immediate
future. Patpong boasted quite a number of pretty well run establishments
where a few ex US Vietnam Vets set up shop. Rick Maynard an ex Air
America 'Employee' ran the Grand Prix Bar (pictured below), opening
in 1968 and remaining until just a few years ago it was the longest
foreign owned and run bar in Bangkok. It catered for servicemen, diplomats,
war correspondents, mercenaries, spies, and even the odd tourist it
was a great place to go for a beer.
Of course one
has to mention 'Tiger' Ryberg, who, married to a Filippina lady named
Lucy was one of the original 'Flying Tigers' . Tiger was a legend,
as hard as nails and a great bloke- a visit to 'Lucy's Tiger Den'
around the corner from Patpong in Suriwongse Road was always a necessity.
There was Cowboy, an ex Black US GI, who even got his own, now famous,
street and bar strip named after him 'Soi Cowboy', I believe he is
still there 'up country' somewhere. And of course BJ another ex GI
who opened the first foreign owned bar and is a local identity down
Pattya way.
During the war
Thailand was one of the most popular R&R destinations for the
troops and the yanks always had an R&R Center. The US R&R
Center in Bangkok was the Windsor Hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 20. This
was popular for the married blokes for everything was at US Service
Club prices and you had to have Military ID to get in. The bar down
below used to provide live entertainment in the manner of strippers,
until one young US serviceman on R&R took some pictures and sent
them home to mum, who immediately informed her congressman that the
service was corrupting her son. That soon stopped! Here was was this
young Marine out there killing people but watching naked ladies was
corrupting him! Now that's crazy!!
Thailand was a
very popular destination, but it did suffer from the very difficult
language barrier (sailors were not noted for their interest in asian
languages) and the high beer prices for the day. But then visits to
Thailand were generally only for a week's duration at the longest,
unless of course you broke down, and that's another story.
