LIFE

Ring in the new

Life, Gary Boyle, Published on 16/12/2013

» Bangkok was different in February 1970, back when Dusit Thani first opened her doors onto the junction of Silom and Rama IV. Beer was ten baht, gas one baht a litre, a good hotel room eight dollars. Siam Centre was a copse of trees by a dusty roundabout. An original print ad for the hotel boasted of 'a wide choice of sophisticated supper clubs, Continental and Siamese restaurants, coffee shops and cocktail lounges.' The photo shows the building looking much as it does today, minus the towering downtown skyscrapers, which is precisely the appeal of this grand dame of Bangkok hospitality.