In bkk from the Gulf to visit an Australian friend in 1980. Getting around was m-u-c-h slower and more difficult so, as a result, I spent much time lazing in his garden, watching his maid shoo snakes away from the wrap-around porch and thinking this was not the place for me...the bts has made all the difference...

1987 or so came here to meet the Inlaws who are still with me today and I love to bits, on arrival to the house I rememember being told to wai the old Auntie who took one look at me and walked away. Honest to God I thought oh shit she's not a Church goer and was offended when I made that silly prayer sign.

Bangkok was different back then, a lot more fun imo, every kid said hello, people always asked where I was from, neighbours came at all hours just to say hello, no one wore sunglasses, better dressed locals, food was better and the people looked at me with lust heheh

I'd been fascinated by Thailand for years before I first came here, mainly through a group of lads in my local who were regular visitors throughout the 1980s.
Their tales were fairly standard tales, but more than enough to get under the skin of a (then) young lad whose travelling was limited to a few working Summers in Mediterranean Europe and one 6 week jaunt through Egypt.
It was all standard fare but the tales of hot dusky maidens willing to oblige a horny devil for a few quid, coupled with the raucous, non violent nightlife, good climate and seemingly cheap costs compared to Europe held me fascinated, which in turn led me to dig deeper and start to absorb any book on the region as I could find.
I still recall one wet Thursday in Rochdale Library as rain splattered against the window as I read Lonely Planet's Thailand and South East Asia on a Shoestring guides, which confirmed inside me the fact that Thailand/SEASia offered a far more economical travel alternative than Europe did.

Then following an ill chosen, dreadful trip to Tunisia one Christmas/New Year with a few of the 'Thailand' lads coming along. Being forced into the hotel bar every day by the terrible weather and lack of other entertainment venues it was only a matter of time before the 'Thailand' tales began to be the staple topic of conversation.
Towards the end of this nightmare trip, we planned a trip to Thailand, so upon returning home I proceeded to work all the hours God sent and saving like a trooper only to see the others drop out one by one until I was 'last man standing'. Some less adventurous pals urged me to forget Asia and play it 'safe' in the Med, but I was determined to go. I'd grafted my arse off, saved like scrooge while my pals partied every weekend and so it came to August 1990, With Thailand still a relative 'unknown' quantity no one was that happy to see me going to such a potentially 'dangerous' place but I was full of it all. I'd been hooked on the place for a fair few years and was determined to take the plunge.
After a nice send off in my local I hopped into a taxi and took a short 2 hr hop to Helsinki where I being new to Long Haul travel was pleased to find I'd had a free hotel bunged in instead of a long wait at Helsinki Airport. I then boarded a virtually empty plane two days later for the final 10/11 hour leg to Bangkok. This was it at last. To say I was bubbling with excitement would be to put it mildly. To this day I still recall the last few hours of that flight watching the plane inch agonisingly slowly over the Bay of Bengal and Myanmar to the promised land. As the plane began it's descent I caught my first glimpse of Thailand through the clouds, the now familiar patchwork of waterlogged fields stretching away as far as the eye could see. My heart was pounding as the plane banked on its final approach revealing my first glimpse of Bangkok stretching away, concrete grey, glistening in the rain as far as the eye could see. I wondered what, if any, life changing experiences awaited me there. Bizarrely the thought that 'down there, unsuspecting, could be the bird I'll be shagging tonight' came to mind...but I was only 21...

My first sensations are pretty much the standards for a first arrival in Bangkok, heat, smells, humidity, chaos, traffic, daft taxi driver etc....through all this though shone the happiness inside me that I was here at last after years of waiting, disappointments, all was to lift off the printed page and become reality. That wet Thursday in Rochdale library suddenly seemed a long way off...

I then had my first of many lucky breaks here when I met in the bar of my hotel, three Scots who were all 'old Thai hands' working out of Songkhla who on finding a newbie began to fill me in on all the potential pitfalls one wouldn't find in the guidebooks; namely those regarding the dolly birds. They proceeded to guide me through my first night in Patpong, and offer me their sage advice over the next few days which still remains valid to this day.

Apologies for that ramble....but you did ask.....

so, you're post-op then...

*cough*...I was thinking of other, perhaps more radical, changes...

2001, big suite in The Banyan Tree, on knees begging not to go outside again away from the air con as there was an imminent risk of coma and death.

Tea at the Rose Gardens. Sweating.

Floating market. Sweating.

Then a sleeper train up to CM and the Sheraton. Sweating.

Had a ride on an elephant. Sweating.

Walked round the night market. Sweating.

Went to a snake charmer show thing. Sweating.


I did a lot of sweating. It's about all I can remember.