Hat's off to you, Pat. 22 years in Phra Khanong on Pridi 16 and you have taught me some things I never learned about. I had been told by other old timers about the many cinemas but I did not know so many still existed. I do remember the one where the condo now stands. Before everybody had a cell phone in the early 2000s, girls would sit there with phones people could rent to make calls. Also there, one of Phra Khanong's last video rental shops. Your friend need go no further than the uber-hip "The Beat" Hotel on Pridi 3 for some ghostly possibilities. Before it was gutted and transformed into "The Beat", it was the "69" Hotel, a dreary, filthy, sleazy, rat infested flop house populated by the saddest collection of addicts and society's castaways as one could imagine. Police pulling a body out of there was common enough that it wasn't even particularly noteworthy. Pridi 3 was pretty tough in those days, a dilapidated lumber yard where "W" district now sits. not a place to wander at night. What was wonderful at night was the almost endless line of food vendors stretching down '71 from 10PM onwards till dawn. Even members of the Royal Family had been known to pull-up for a special bowl of noodles or a custom made "Ma Muang Poo" The saddest, most unforgettable sight for me in Phra Khanong was January 1, 2009. My girlfriend and I were in a taxi on Sukhumvit returning from a New Years party. We passed Soi Ekkamai and all of a sudden began seeing ZOMBIES...that is, people looking like walking dead: burned clothing, faces and bodies black with soot, staggering, screaming and crying, a vision of hell and you could see more of the same further ahead, all the way to Phra Khanong. These were the lucky ones who had escaped the horrendous SANTIKA Nightclub fire in Ekkamai that killed at least 66 known victims, just as the New Year was rung in. Again, a pyrotechnics show gone to hell, exactly like the 2003 Station Club fire in Warwick, Rhode Island in which more than 100 died. AFAIK; nobody was ever held accountable.
The site of W District once had a theatre, called the Chao Phraya, I believe Soi 3 is actually called that, I remember the food vendors along there, I lived along Petchaburi Road and at Nasa Vegas in 2002/2003 and the area was a bit drab and grey I always remember think I was glad I never lived anywhere around there although I did look at a room in Winning Tower back in 2003 and decided against it, preferring a place along Petchaburi Rd next to Foodland at the end of Ekkamai Road. I used to go to Santika quite a bit in 2006-08 and if I wasn't in London that Xmas that could have been one of our new year choices, that was shocking. I covered the fire in my Ekkamai video, and while looking for footage and pics saw the uncensored ones with all the bodies, horrific. The place was only registered as a restaurant. The owner was jailed for 3yrs in 2015. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santika_Club_fire
An old girlfriend of mine lives in Phra Khanong. The last time I saw her was in 1989, but we've recently re-established contact. She's a grandmother now - scary!
This video is a nice trip down memory lane. Used to go to Phrakhanong weekly to teach a returnee whose parents owned a gold shop at the soi 71 intersection. They prepared a meal after every lesson, so some of the best Thai food I had was there.
If it wasn't for your 'nerdy' insights, I probably wouldn't have ended up being a subscriber. These nuggets of information from days gone by, coupled with your cinematic style makes your channel one of my favourites. Keep on keeping on Pat.
Another fascinating insight into Bangkok of the past by Pat, particularly the old Phra Khanong cinemas of that era. Not too far away from Khlong Toey harbour where my ship used to dock. Must give it a walk around on my next visit to Krungthep👍
The container ship part is the new port of Bangkok and the old port for general cargo is just a bit further on, on the same side and is still in business. Passenger ships, Navy ships and Greenpeace vessels still use this part where the Godowns (sheds) are situated. Some vessels are often tied up in the river to the dolphin bouy’s
Hi pat. I’m so glad to take the time to make videos that are well planed out. You gave your guest a mic, nice. I like to shots of cats. I would be happy if you shot other animals as well. I live in Arizona now but i plan to retire in Bangkok in a few years. I would enjoy meeting you sometime in the future. Gary.
Thanks Gary, apart from cats and a few dogs there's not else readily available to shoot, the odd bird or turtle or lizard. Let me know when you get to Bangkok, I'm sure I'll still be around!
Hi Pat ..in th.all change pretty quick...people live very much in the present...then and now...that sentimental look into the past ...that can lead to sorrow ( which it did in the past to me ) is pretty foreign to thais ( at least those I know )..so I learned, adopted and I guess changed to live fully in the now ..still remember and don't forget...but be in the present...because thats the place where all the action happens...just to...change once again...
Another great video! Back in 1993, I used to train with Master Toddy in his backyard in that area, after he returned back to Thailand from pioneering Muay Thai in Manchester, England. There used to be a Boxing gym under that flyover; and Master Toddy had all sorts of stories from his days of street fighting in that area, when he was a teenager. It sure has changed a lot since then, but it brings back memories watching your video clip. Keep up the great work!
@@BangkokPat I forget the name of that gym; but it is the gym that the WBC and IBF Junior Flyweight Champion, Saman Sorjaturog first started Boxing from before he moved over to the Chitalada Gym on Sukhumvit Soi 36.
Amazing walk down memory lane... Bangkok in 1979 just being there was an exciting feeling. 1980 :s 1990's those feelings changed, Bangkok is slowly becoming Singapore but for excitement and exotic culture Bangkok is still unique.
I like the nightly / rainy ambient atmosphere of your videos. It's got a noir movie atmosphere that reminds me the graham greene spy novels. Thanks to this video I also discovered the work of Philip Jablon. Great work.
Thanks Claude, I do shoot certain things to try and appear a bit noir, it gives another edge to certain shots when lighting is limited. Phil Jablon has done some great research for his site, it's always a good read.
Pat I have got a couple of stories you can find for your channel. 1. When the jetty collapsed on the river killing many people waiting for the boat . 2. When a tanker truck crashed into a car a tank load of fuel exploded on the streets of BKK 3. A story about the old "Rose Hotel" in Patong area.
I've walked around the area many times but never knew the history, thanks for adding some context. I randomly came to meet Bruce at a party a few months back, cool guy.
@@BangkokPat My first reaction to the intro was "holy shit, that's the guy from the party". Didn't realise his background. Those Japanese 2nd hand shops in Phra Kanong are awesome. The one at Summer Hill, whole set of golf clubs for around 2000B.
Thanks, it's growing steadily and nicely. Everyone wants faster growth but the kind of videos I do, take a bit longer to catch on. Quality over quantity as they say.
Thanks. The movie theater background on Phra Khanong, I wasn't aware of and it was interesting to see. It will all be a nice reference to look back on for those wanting to appreciate what Bangkok was like in by gone days.
Thanks a lot! I was actually wrong, there were 6 theatres, the one I suspected was a cinema I was told was the frontage to a market but a commenter pointed this out. Holiday Theatre it was called, just further along from the London.
Bkk Pat your videos are outstanding, you capture Bkk like no other and you make me miss it so much. Next time I visit I'd really like to buy you a beer. Good on ya mate, keep up the good work
Love it. Spent 4 months there back in 2016 and will return there for the first time since in a few weeks. Really cool to see how it's developed, even in that short time
My home for the past five years! I live inside W District and shop the Phra Khanong market several times a week. You missed Soi 2 with a great street food scene. I love it here. I like to describe it as being on the edge of the downtown. You get the condos and international food right next to the urban Thai experience of street food and the fresh market. I don’t really spend much time across the street around the J Cafe but it is interesting to walk around and is definitely a quieter part of the neighborhood. The khlong end of the area is quite interesting to walk around also. Thanks for the cinema history. Didn’t know that.
Thanks for this. I believe Phra Khanong 100 years ago used to be some agglomeration of wooden houses on both sides of the khlong and a commercial area selling goods brought from up river. It follows the On Nut Road up quite well.
It would have been soon after he met the King in 1960, maybe a year or so. I've no info on that, it's all I could find out. But it was mentioned as kind of private show, not a regular gig, which could be true as I found no records of that.
Loved it, will watch this in 10 years and reminisce. There was also lots of shopping around where j bar is today, most those side streets were shopping. Phra Khanong is so close to on nut yet has a different feel and unique points that make living great like w District and a big fresh market.
Nice that you interviewed Bruce and helped promote his RU-vid channel. He's definitely posted a lot of videos, but the attention to detail, nuanced insights and detailed research that goes into your videos are absent in his, at least at this time. I did click on your link and viewed several of Bruce's more recent videos of Thailand and his recent trip to Cambodia.
Bruce and I have a few things in common and he's a nice guy to work with. We're doing a video on Haunted places in Bangkok as we share a love of horror films!
I'll be brutally honest with you. I am not trying to compete with Pat and his channel so far superior than mine. I make my videos for fun about what I do around here in town but I agree with you his videos are far better. Thanks for at least watching some of them.
Everyone has different ways of making videos, some are a complicated process and others more basic. It's the content and intent of what is being put across that's also very important.
@@BangkokPat - Yes. Seems "Self Evident". If consumers vote with their pocketbooks, then perhaps RU-vid viewers click and vote with their finger tips. 55555 Just got my Thailand Pass QR code. Should be arriving in BKK via Incheon on Monday night. Staying on Sukhumvit Soi 19 alley at the Key. Want to see if that Mexican Restaurant next to Hanako ever came back after the fire they had in December.
@@brucef310 - Your videos may appeal more to those who are new to SE Asia and Bangkok. Whereas Pat's are quite interesting to me because they cover a lot of things from around the time I started visiting Bangkok circa 1996/97 when Thai Airways was my first airline account. I still remember walking along Sukhumvit Road before it got shaded by the Skytrain. Sill remember Soi Zero (Buckskin Joe's Alley). I did like your recent video showing Central Market in Phnom Penh. I'm considering a side trip there in June. I usually eat street foods in PNH that my Khmer friends are too squeamish to try.
Great video! its really interesting how over the past year or two the amount of clients we have who now seek properties in Prakanong rather than On nut..both areas have great charm but I agree that Prakanong has always been a gem of a place and now its added much more to its arsenal.
Thanks John, I think it has the edge over On Nut in terms of a bit less spread out and easier to get about. There are side sois with places to get away from the noise and chill which I thought was lacking in On Nut.
I live next to the market overlooking the cinema. I've often thought it must have been a thriving retail area before the big stores came along. There are a lot of foreigners around here now and I think that the market could be an attraction if it was renovated. I only know the area since 2008, so never saw the old cinemas. But I remember there were few western people and it felt distinctly rougher than now.
We visit this area a lot and I had no idea of it’s rich history. Thank you for the upload. Your editing is wonderful and you are a natural storyteller. We’ve been with you since you started and great to see the high level of interest in your channel :-)
Do you have a source for Elvis playing that venue? He famously never did any concerts outside the USA because his manager Tom Parker was scared he would not be allowed reentry into the USA. Google isn’t bringing anything up about an Elvis show in Bangkok. Edit : Presley gave only five official concerts outside the US: two each in Toronto and Ottawa in April 1957 and one in Vancouver in August 1957.
That's also the first I've heard of Presley even going anywhere outside of the USA, other than Germany for his national service. He was supposed to have done a stopover in Scotland that was having left Germany for returning to the USA - where he didn't even get out of the plane, although he was of Scottish desent. (Elvis Presley performing in Bangkok, Thailand, is like Frank Sinartra performing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.) However, enjoyed the vlog - good one!
I was told by quite a reliable source but he was a kid at the time so it was probably a tribute. I was then told it was an invite only type of show, ''an audience with'' kind of thing, which is feasable given who he'd met at Paramount Studios before... Still, it sounds good on video anyway.
@@BangkokPat Oh, yeah! I'd forgotten about that fabulous photo with his and her royal highnesses, Ann Margret, and Elvis Presley. So, Presley having performed in Bangkok is a logical possiblity after all.
@@richardconstable6780 No Elvis never came to Thailand. The photo of the The King with The King was taken in Hollywood. The story of EP playing a gig in Bangkok is load of rubbish. Frankly I'm surprised Pat fell for it.
I thought so, because there's one other old frontage but I was told it was a market but looked like theatre style, towards the bridge over canal, same side as London theatre. Thanks for telling me and I really wish we could have known last week!
Always enjoy watching your content Pat. I’d love you to show on a map exactly where you’re talking about. Not sure if it’s practical to use a known map on RU-vid though.
The only truly informative and respectful channel about Thailand, past and present 🙏 thank you sir, I've stayed here in January 2020 a little before the storm... I miss Thailand and Thai people 🙏
Another interesting and informative video Pat as only you do them. I love the way you research your subjects and places. It’s fantastic looking at the old cinemas and what is there now. I’m just querying the Elvis appearance as I’m fairly sure that he never played in Bangkok. Anyway, thanks for great videos.
Thanks Gary, it was one of those shows with a well-to-do audience I believe, where you didn't buy tickets. Invite only kind of thing. The guy who told me, his grandparents are well known landowners in the area.
@@BangkokPat Great video. Keep up the good work. But the Elvis story is false. It’s been talked about several times in different Elvis documentaries that he never played outside of the US.
I really like Phra Khanong and was very possibly staying in a hotel around the corner from J Bar (which I walked past regularly) whilst you were filming this. However, apart from seeing one of the theatre frontages you mentioned (and not really appreciating it) I had zero knowledge of the history of the area. Thank You for your researching and passing on the info.
Thanks Andrew, there are a few more hotels around there than I recall when I first went 20yrs ago, Hopeland and Ibis are usually a good bet. Those theatre frontages needed a bit of investigating, so I knew I'd be back at some point!
Thanks. I didn't actually do much research on that one, as I didn't have time. It looked like they'd stripped off a panel on the wall and all the posters were still up.
I lived in Le Luk Condo for 1 year and Wyne Condo for 2 years. They tried to develop the W District into an art colony; there used to be an art gallery there. I remember the alien statue with the baby, the UFO building and the glass pyramid on top of the Jasmine Hotel. I didn't know about the theaters and Elvis at the Hopeland. Thanks. I enjoyed that neighborhood. Some good restaurants there.
Another great video Pat. A friend is still trying to sell me a condo in phra khanong, maybe I should take another look? Or maybe not, my wife would veto it 😁
Pat, Nice story telling , either from you or from Bruce, I will be curious about the ghost in Asia hotel, it’s where I like to stay, good breakfast, and location to get by .
Thanks very much Ben, Bruce is a great guy to work with. I talk about the Asia Hotel in the Ratchathewi video. They have 3 spirit houses so you should be fine!
Prakanong started to hurt when Tesco Lotus (now Lotus's) and Carrefour (now Big C) opened at Onnut. The Welco, Asian, Thai Daimaru and another department store, the name of which I forget, closed down.
awesome amazing you got into that old cinema. know phra khanong well. What is the aisa hotel story link please stayed there so many times used to belong to the club there in 1994
Thanks, it was just a stroke of luck, and Bruce spotted the chance and I was initially reluctant..... The Asia hotel haunting I talked about in the Ratchathewi video
Khun Pat's channel has some Thai language translation programs. Because some Thai people, if they don't have Thai language, they don't watch at all. It will increase the follower base as well. 😊😉👍
Have you tried the BKK 'witchy' cafes? There are two that I know of, firstly, 'Kaethy the Witch Cafe', which is mainly theme based Secondly, there is the excellent 'Ace of Cups' which is the real deal (and might be a useful source of information).
Am a new subscriber. Like your videos as they come with a historical perspective . Can you tell me which are the areas to buy a house in Bangkok to avoid the flood n airport noise ... Will prefer gated communities with communal pool if possible, thanks
Thanks and welcome. The question you ask is a very open question, there are so many answers. Put the question in Facebook group 'expats in thailand' would be better.
Thanks for the reply. Was hoping to get some input as the Bangkok flood maps are really giving me a headache as they seem to suggest that most places are not safe . Let me know (if possible) if the best option is to stay in a condo near the mrt n to avoid getting a car, thanks n take care.
Khun Pat, I have a question or maybe a video idea for you: Why are so many buildings also in expensive areas unoccupied and rotting? I.e. today I saw again that building on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 4. I don't think I ever saw this occupied in the last three decades. I am sure the owner could have made a lot of money renting it out. And there are many places like that. Often they are not so obvious when one is in front of them. But looking at the other side of the road it's easy to spot them. Just like the rotting cinema entrances in your videos. Why is the situation like that? Rotting, rotting and nothing happens?
Thanks Edgar, the reason why they'd get left rotting is the owners are sitting on the land until the best offer comes in. That building at the corner of Soi 4 did have a guy ironing by the window last month, the lights were on. I do often wonder about it myself, that building is worth so much in land and it's even in old photos from 50yrs ago!
Another good 'un Pat..... So, you're a bit of a ducker & diver then..... same as me. I can never resist a bargain especially if i can flog it for more on ebay.......
I still had 7 books listed until a year ago, I kept up the fees ''just in case'' but gave up. Last book I sold was a rare book on kenpo karate to a doctor in Puerto Rico.