March 2009 Seri Court Visit Comments

1)      I returned to Thailand in March on vacation and stopped in Bangkok for a day on my way out. International flights now all go into Suvarnabhumi, the new airport. In country flights had remained at Don Muang but that changed this month. The old airport is slowly loosing its significance.  

2)      I went to Seri Court and took a little trip down memory lane. It was as I had expected, based on my visit there three years earlier. The only real difference I noticed was that there was a lot more trash lying around on the grounds. The buildings continue to deteriorate and I can’t see where anything is maintained. Some people live there at ground level and call it home but it is really in sad condition.

3)      As you can see from the pictures from Pradipat Road, there is a new gate at the entrance from the street. The front of the property from the street still looked the same and the trees haven’t been trimmed for many years. The gate remains locked and you must speak with someone on the inside to ask for permission to enter. Thanks to modern technology (the cell phone) and my wife’s keen abilities at negotiation, she spoke with the man who is the caretaker and we soon gained access to Seri Court. I couldn’t have done it without her (and several hundred baht).    

4)      In my last comments from 2006, I mentioned that I had been told that a man who had worked at Seri Court still lived there but was at the doctor when I visited. Well, this time he was there. His name is Mr Amnui. There are several pictures of him He is now 73 years old and understandably a little senile. However, I had put together a blue binder which you’ll see in some of the photos. In that binder I had pictures that were of Seri Court when I was there in 67-68 and a few from this web site. It was amazing but he looked at those pictures and came right to life. He was remembering things he hadn’t thought of in 40 years. He was soon telling me things that I had forgotten. It was really a treat to have the opportunity to see and speak with him again.

5)      There are also several pictures of another man, Mr Huan who had worked at Seri Court. Mr Amnui told me of him and said that he still lived in Saphan Kwai and sold amulets on Pradipat Rd. So, my wife and I went looking and found him not all that far away. He too came to life when I showed him my blue binder. He had been one of the drivers that used to take us to work at Don Muang. He had worked there for many years and said that he actually remembered my face.

6)      When I spoke with Mr Amnui, I asked about Mr Suchin, the head of the houseboys. He said that he had not seen Suchin for a very long time and thought that he may have died. Mr Suchin had stayed in the Saphan Kwai area after Seri Court was closed and Mr Amnui would occasionally see him.

7)      As I mentioned earlier, the grounds of Seri Court were littered with lots of trash and debris. It appeared that there had been bunker like structures built at various locations on the grounds and that there had been some sort of training exercises conducted there in the past several years. The caretaker was not overly talkative and on both occasions over the past several years that I have returned to Seri Court, I have gotten the impression that he is not interested in giving out too much information.

8)       Across Pradipat Rd, there is a new large hotel that was not there the last time I visited. It is called Lupini Place. Pradipat Rd has a slightly newer and cleaner look to it than in 2006 but still in many ways remains the same. There is lots of traffic, the smells from all of the street vendors cooking food and the hustle and bustle of everyday life in Bangkok.

9)      I hope that everyone enjoys these pictures. It was once again a very emotional experience for me to be back at Seri Court after having served there so many years ago. It still amazes me that so much of what we knew as Seri Court still exits.

10)  Best wishes to everyone who served at the 5^th RRU/83^rd RRSOU. 

John Bowers
SP5
04B2L48
67-68