Stickman's column this week pointed to a link with some photos, mostly of Bangkok, during the 1950's.

 

I found the photos interesting, perhaps a few here will also.

 

www.flickr.com/photos/terrymct/sets/72157594143583454/

 

The look across the city with all the green in the background was a bit stunning. The downtown street shots without the typical traffic jams of today is refreshing.

 

 

 

Stickman's Column:

 

www.stickmanbangkok.com/Weekly2006/weekly277.htm

 

Thank you for posting this, JoeM. What a difference! I remember, about a year or so ago, someone posted a set of photos taken in Pattaya during the 1970's. I wish I could remember where I saw those. I do remember those photos showed an entirely different Pattaya. There were a couple of hotels near the old pier and nearly nothing else at all along the beach or what is now the city. Traffic was non-existent. It was a whole different world then, and the photos from the web site you posted are twenty years older than those old photos of Pattaya.

 

Can you imagine what photos of Bangkok and Pattaya will look like when they are taken twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty years from now? I shudder to think about it.

Can you imagine what photos of Bangkok and Pattaya will look like when they are taken twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty years from now? I shudder to think about it.

 

I am afraid both will be bigger and more crowded than they are today. One thing is for certain, they will probably still be working on the Beach Road walkway in Pattaya.

 

Here is a post that showed a couple of old shots of Pattaya:

 

Old Pattaya

 

 

A website with some old pictures as well:

 

Some More Old Pattaya Pics

This is a commercial site I found while "googleing". Some great pics I think going way back!

 

http://www.bygonepics.com/thailand/index_pidtures_klongs.htm

Those are all great photos and it really was a different world then, wasn't it? It's hard to imagine a Pattaya without a Boyztown, Sunee Plaza, Walking Street, lady-boys, Jomtien Beach concessions, traffic jams, and the rest, but there it is.

Those are all great photos and it really was a different world then, wasn't it? It's hard to imagine a Pattaya without a Boyztown, Sunee Plaza, Walking Street, lady-boys, Jomtien Beach concessions, traffic jams, and the rest, but there it is.

 

My first trip here was 1970 so i remember the dirt track along the beach and Walking Street with Royal Cliff Hotel just being built on the headland, I think where the NCO Beach was.

Great pics we should keep.

My first trip here was 1970 so i remember the dirt track along the beach and Walking Street with Royal Cliff Hotel just being built on the headland, I think where the NCO Beach was.

Great pics we should keep.

 

I am very curious about what Pattaya was like in those days. I have never met anyone who has been coming to Thailand as long as that. What was the gay scene like back then, before go-go bars and that sort of thing? Was it easy to meet boys then? Where were the best spots to meet boys at the time? Did anything similar to "off" exist then? If not, do you recall about how and when "off" got started?

 

I am very curious about what Pattaya was like in those days. I have never met anyone who has been coming to Thailand as long as that.

 

Some good kernels about early gay Pattaya among the chaff:

 

Old tales

 

Pattaya History Post

 

First Gay Venue Post

 

JoeM Thanks a lot for bringing these great historical photos at us. Just a note for those who want to download - just above a photo top left is a faint clickable "size" button which if you chose Original and dowload you get really big pics.

 

Funny how the streets and river are more interesting than the temple shots which have changed little over the decades.