158 replies to this topic

[dixon cox]

It felt good to be back to the busy and familiar territory of Bangkok, especially with Christmas and New Year looming. I stayed at Street One Lodge on Sukhumvit Soi 1, but that place was destined never to be the same again. In a few weeks time things would all go horribly wrong.

Sukhumvit Road street market stalls between Sois 3 and 5. Back then the abundance of fake goods was clear to see.

[dixon cox]

Sukhumvit Road again, near Soi5.

Not a single Nigerian hooker to be seen, but tuk-tuk touts and a few wide-boys still existed.

[KendoUK]

great vids DC, what happened a couple of weeks later or is that for a later instalment?

[dixon cox]

great vids DC, what happened a couple of weeks later or is that for a later instalment?

Thanks Kendo, I'll be onto that reference very soon, but as it happens it was more like just a few days away and would become yet another event to be etched in memory.

[dixon cox]

The Soi4 intersection.

[dixon cox]

Early December 1998, a few minutes walk away from Street One Lodge on Sukhumvit Soi 1, where we were staying.

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[dixon cox]

[dixon cox]

"Fai Mai!" - Fire!

In the early hours of December 12th 1998, whilst asleep in our room at Street One Lodge at approximately 04:30am, we were woken by the sound of loud banging and shouting. It was progressively getting louder and nearer. As the source moved closer and the sound of a commotion outside the room grew it was then our own door that was being banged on loudly and there was now absolutely no doubt what was happening. I learned a few words of Thai that day which I have never forgotten. Fai mai!

There was a fire in the building and we had to evacuate immediately. No alarms sounding, no emergency lighting and no emergency exits, the only way out was the same way we had entered. What we didn't know at the time was the fire was beneath us.

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[dixon cox]

The corridor was pitch black due the power being out and once the door was opened smoke began to enter our room, so I closed it again. From the lighting outside our window we could see enough to move around the room. I yanked on my shorts and grabbed my shirt, my camera bag and spent a vital few seconds opening the safe to get my money-belt out, which contained money, bank card, credit cards and our passports. There was simply no time to gather any other possessions. My girlfriend had pulled on her jeans and a t-shirt and had her handbag, simply no time for anything else.

The corridor was pitch black and we couldn't see a thing, I closed our room door behind us as we exited. We could hear voices and screaming but we couldn't see anyone else, plus the sound of the security guard banging on more doors and calling "fai mai!"

The security guard on duty that night deserved a medal.

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[pacman]

Every travellers nightmare. Hardly surprising you remembered the exact date. How did the Fire "Kids" perform? Did they have a clue or was it like watching the Keystone Cops?

And God bless the security guard. He put himself at risk to raise the alarm, others would have fled. I hope he got more than a medal for his efforts.

[KendoUK]

I thought I had been through some dramas in my early LOS trips but you really had more than your fair share DC.

[dixon cox]

Every travellers nightmare. Hardly surprising you remembered the exact date. How did the Fire "Kids" perform? Did they have a clue or was it like watching the Keystone Cops?

And God bless the security guard. He put himself at risk to raise the alarm, others would have fled. I hope he got more than a medal for his efforts.

Thanks for your comment Pacman

To be honest I only remembered it was in December 1998, a few weeks before Christmas. The time-stamp on the video assisted in pin-pointing the exact date for me, but it remains an event I will not forget, neither will I forget the Thai words "fai mai!"

From the time we opened the door to the security guard to the time we were able to breath fresh air outside was a nerve-racking several minutes. I wouldn't like to go through that again. We were all lucky that day with great thanks to the security guard. Unfortunately he was not identified after the event for us to be able to thank him.

Once the fire services arrived they all performed well, including the youngsters. I just remember being surprised to see some of the team members being so young and how long it took for the services to arrive, a bit more on that later.