"The Garage"

[Brad the Impala]

I wonder if "The Garage" somehow corresponds to Bluesjytoday's elusive bar with fishnets. For now that's one more bar that has been mentioned but about which nothing is actually known, along with the fishnet bar, which may have existed in the early 1970s and Tiffany's up on the ramp in Patpong, which is recorded as being there in 1980 but about which no one has ever shared any details. I assume that your friend meant Soi Thaiya proper, rather than Soi Thaniya 2, which has, obviously, had boy bars on it for decades?

Thanks for your continuing interest in this topic and our history! Pretty sure that my friend meant the main Thaniya(Thanon?) It might as you say have been linked with the fishnets described elsewhere, however logic suggests that fishnets would have fitted in better in a bar like Sea Hag with a nautical theme. Sadly this may all remain a mystery........unless any one else is forthcoming...........

Speaking of Thaniya 2, in your post on the That First Time thread, you mentioned that "My first time sex in Thailand must have been about 1970, I was a very young man. I was staying at the Suriwong Hotel in Patpong, Bangkok having been advised that that was the place to stay for “that sort of thing”. My question is whether the Twilight Bar was still on Thaniya 2 at that point. As noted in the History of Soi Twilight thread and elsewhere, the Twilight Bar's originally opened on Thaniya 2 in 1966 before moving to Soi Pratuchai "in the early 1970s". Pinning-down the date for its move, and thus the beginning of Soi Twilight, is proving tough. If it was no longer there when you stayed at the Suriwong Hotel, then we are much closer to establishing the year of its move.

I can confirm that Twilight had not yet moved at this point to the soi that came to bear it's name, and I must have been in Bangkok a couple of years before it moved. So I am thinking 72 or 73.

Hopefully, at some point you will get-around to setting down your memories of the early scene in Bangkok in one consolidated thread, along with all the anecdotes y the bother veterans after a few pints. Doubtless, it will be a fascinating read.

Thank you for thinking this might be interesting. It is interesting to remember sometimes, but as for setting it all down, that would have to wait until I have more time on my hands, as one finger typing is a slow process! Of course by then I may have forgotten more anyway.

I second that motion. If Brad's first visit was around 1970, I'm pretty sure that predates anyone else on the board by a good many years. My first question would be: what prompted the visit at a time when Thailand was not on most tourists' radar and when 'gap year' was a newish term?

Thanks Snotface. I thought that there had been a couple of other posters around at that time, but I may be mistaken.

My first trip to Thailand was prompted by a third hand rumour that the men there were beautiful and available, and it all sounded very exotic. An English friend(with whom I was in love but he was straight) and I had both gathered enough money to go on a significant holiday together. The previous year we had spent a month in Albufiera in the Algarve.

For our next trip he was thinking of Mexico and I was thinking of Thailand(I may not have revealed the full extent of my motivation). We tossed a coin and I won. We spent almost three months in a rented wooden bungalow by the sea in Pattaya. He got a girlfriend and I hung out with the motorbike boys. As soon as we returned to the UK I was making plans to return to Thailand, while, although he had enjoyed the holiday, I don't think he ever went back, while I have hardly been away! I was due to go back in April last year, but for obvious reasons haven't made it, meaning it's now the longest period away since I first visited.

Still, at least I am blessed that I have my very own piece of Thailand living with me.