For more than a decade, Bangkok reigned supreme as the Disco City. Nowhere intensity and exuberance, and sheer craziness. dressed the part and with unbridled vigor.
 
Never before had they open invitation to let their and party in such an unregulated environment. wavered under the mass many of these flashy temples and divas.
 
The frenzy even lured world’s most infamous the UK to set up a giant ill-fated disco in Bangkok.
​
Inspired by the success 1977 movie ‘Saturday Bangkok’s disco mania strength to strength, early 2000s – and then as quickly as it had first the victim of excess, meddling officials.
 
The authorities were worried about the effect discos were having on 'innocent' young Thais while the cops fumed when one of the biggest establishments refused to entertain them. The writing was on the wall.

Suddenly, it all became too much for disco operators, especially after a horrific fire at a Bangkok night club that killed 66 people and injured more than 220. New rules and regulations made it far more difficult to carry on.

Today, discos barely exist in Bangkok. Instead young partygoers head to clubs or bars. Interest in dancing like John Travolta has waned, it seems.
But for another generation, that era of strobe lights, disco mirror balls and fake smoke is a wonderful memory.

The Big Chilli has compiled a list of a few of Bangkok's legendary discos that in their day were the hottest tickets in town. Discos are dead -long live the discos!

Were you trained, or just a natural actor?
I have never had formal training, but as in life, every movie is an experience, an adventure, and a lesson.

What kind of roles are you usually given?
After 21 years, I feel I am typecast - Mafia, police, military types, but I am always hoping and ready for a role that will challenge me.

What are the best known movies you’ve appeared in?
NO Escape, Only God Forgives, The Lady, Twilight Over Burma, and Trade of Innocents.

What’s the best and worst thing about acting?
Personally, it's all a HIGH for me. I get to meet new people, make new friends, go to different places/countries, get to play different personas, and get paid to do what I love.

Of all the stars you’ve met, who are your favorites?
Pierce Brosnan, Dermott Mulroney, Dustin Nguyen, and few others.

Any Oscars?
Not in my crosshairs, but like Momma said, never refuse a good offer. I am just appreciative to be working.

What’s your next movie?
A Thai horror movie and an international film. I cannot elaborate further than that.

As a well-known actor and singer, you must be constantly asked to join a selfie or sign autographs. Does it bother you?
Not at all. I do get asked to take pictures often but, as I am not star-struck kind of a guy, I wish that people would feel the same way and simply approach me in a friendly manner.

Do you ever refuse fans’ requests?
To do what? As far as song requests, I try not to disappoint.

How much time do you spend at The Garage?
As much as possible. It's where my wife and I hang out.

What came first – singing, acting or restaurant owner?
The singing and acting have always been there. The Garage Burger & Grill came to be in 2002.

Which of these do you like doing the most?
Once again, I am blessed doing all that I love. As with my four children, I have no favorites.

Do you ever get time for a vacation?
Time is always there, but rarely coincides with film schedules.

Other than The Garage, what’s your favorite Bangkok restaurant and other hang-out places?
We frequent friends' establishments such as Wine Bibber Sangria or the Friese Greene Club where movie motivated people go. We do love to cook at home. In fact, my family has given me the nickname #halfnakedchef.
​
What’s next for you?
To continue doing what I do, to spend more time with family and my new granddaughter.

Singer, songwriter, musician and a voice-over actor, Athalie spent her early years in Thailand’s northeast, eating sticky rice and speaking the local dialect.

​Now fluent in three languages, this multi-talented lady heads two bands – Jazziam and the soon-tobe- launched Chilla Nova – who can be seen at several popular Bangkok venues.

​ 
Name: Athalie de Koning.
Nickname: Ath (pronounced ‘At’ like the @ sign)
Education: Bachelor of Education in Music, Master of Education in Arts (specialization in Voice and Interdisciplinary Improvisation) from Utrecht Conservatory, the Netherlands.
Family background: I am the fifth of six children. I have two older sisters, two older brothers, and one younger brother. Growing up, our family used to sing and harmonise together all the time, earning us the nickname “the Von Trapp Family.”
 
Where do you live? Sukhumvit 101/1, a buzzing part of town that has street food available at all hours of the day (or night). When I first moved there seven years ago, it was very rare to see any foreigners in the area. However, with the new True Digital Park that just opened at 101, there has been an influx of non-Thai office workers and entrepreneurs. I’m still getting used to all the changes, but it is very convenient to have a shopping mall and my favourite gym nearby.
 
How long in Thailand? What brought you here?
When I was just a few months old, my parents brought me to the north-eastern region of Thailand, Isan, where they worked with Hmong refugees in Loei province. I spent the first three and a half years of my life eating sticky rice with mango and babbling in Isan. After that, we moved back and forth between the Netherlands, England, Malaysia, and Thailand.
 
I can’t say exactly how many years I have been in Thailand due to all the moving around, but I usually say, “most recently, nine years.” My Asian-American husband and I moved back to Thailand in 2010. His mum still lives here, as well as my parents and my younger brother.
 
What’s keeping you here?
My husband and I always joke that Thailand is the only country that will have us both. Although we say it in jest, there is certainly a grain of truth in that statement. Both of us had trouble getting visas in each other’s birth countries – the Netherlands and America – but here in Thailand, marriage still carries some legal weight. Because of my husband’s Thai passport, the yearly visa application process is quite smooth. Time-consuming, yes, but I’ve learned not to look at the clock too often in Thailand.
 
So you can speak Thai fluently?
Thai is such an intricate language, I feel like I’ll never speak it fluently. For every situation, depending on context, hierarchy, or status, there’s a specific word. I’m about 80% fluent now, but certain formal fields such as philosophy or religion are still difficult for me to follow.
 
Even though I lived here as a child, I didn’t grow up speaking Thai. My siblings and I went to international schools, where all the students were encouraged to speak only English. As a result, English is my first language, Dutch my second, and Thai my third.
 
When I moved back to Bangkok nine years ago, I took an intensive course of three months, six hours a day. That’s where I learned the basics, but most of my Thai speaking skills have come from interaction with fellow musicians. I love listening to their banter during rehearsals and I try to pick up at least a few new words every week. Only polite words, of course!

Living with cats

From my experience cats, and especially Persians, are extremely smart and remarkable animals. They are superior to humans in their senses of smell, hearing and in some respects vision. They apparently can’t distinguish fine details or rich colors, but have a heightened ability to see in the dark. Every cat has its own distinct personality, mood swings and food preferences, and each seems to have a preferred protection strategy when they sense danger.
​
There are a few negative aspects of living with cats, like fallen hairs all around and the chance that it might scratch or bite while playing too rambunctiously. This sometimes requires medical attention and tetanus and rabies shots. Cats also need vaccinations, particularly for rabies. I know from experience that some animal hospitals and clinics can be costly. It is worthwhile to check prices before brining your animal in.
Another drawback to owning cats is unpleasant odors coming from the litter box, which must be cleaned and changed often in order to avoid this. Some cats, my present cat included, can never seem to accept the litter box. While frustrating, and this can actually work out well if they can be trained to go outside or in the same, newspaper-covered place all the time.

Name: David Paul Shrubsole
That’s an interesting family name – how do you pronounce it and what are its origins?
‘Shrub-sole’. The name was first found in Kent where they held a family seat as Lord of the manor.... I quite fancy myself as a Lord. 
Nickname: I’ve heard myself called many things over the years, so let’s make it easier. Shrub works for most.
Age: Older than I was ever meant to be, but 58 years of sheer brilliance.
Born: Adelaide, Australia.
Education: Hated school at all levels. Mind you I was the one that always organized the social calendars but as for sitting still and looking at the black board, not likely - too much excitement outside the school bell.  Mom and Dad insisted I could not leave without a good job, the day I was 16 I got my hair dresser apprenticeship with one of the Australian top stylists and said goodbye to school.
Family background: Mums is Mum and my greatest fan Dad worked for Australian post all of his life. Our entire family are so proud they belong to us.
Family today: Coolest family ever. We grow and learn from each other daily and are kept under the reign of our fantastic parents.
Life before Thailand: Lived in Adelaide, Australia, which was relatively successful with hair salons, TV programs, fashion show and renovating houses which thankfully ended up a great apprenticeship for what would unfold for me in this Asian chapter.
Where do you live?
In Sathon and love it. Found a fab condo that was in need of a Dr. and my engineering team and life partner threw some ideas together that really worked, so we live in a Shrubsole Surprise.
How long in Thailand?
25 years but has gone in a blink.
What brought you here?
Hair and make-up. Before Thailand it was spas and glamour. Originally I was under a contract with The Best group which opened Thailand’s first international hair and beauty group. Fab, Fab, Fab – spent my early years with truly spectacular people from around the world.
Can you speak Thai?
I have been in the kingdom for 25 years and my Thai is still horrible, but must confess I do understand far more than I wish to admit too.

Why did you decide to stay in Thailand?
I arrived in late 1992 a few months after the military coup and “Black May” killings of pro-democracy protestors on the streets around Democracy Monument (oh, the irony), during the kingdom’s “economic miracle” of double-digit growth rates. It was a hugely exciting boom era when the country was convulsed by social upheavals, cultural shifts, rabid consumerism, and wonderful economic opportunities. So I stuck around to witness and chronicle those changes, and make some glorious lucre into the bargain.    

Please tell us a little bit about Farang Untamed Travel magazine.
It was the late Bobby McBlain, Cameron Cooper and myself, all refugees and friends from The Nation, who founded the magazine and became the first editors, shareholders and writers. When we started in 2001, I think there was a need for a publication that was edgier, funnier and more sensationalistic, but that also tried to reflect so many of the realities of travel – not the fantasies in the glossy magazines or that the tourism boards portray. 

So we covered the dark side of Asian countries, too, the crime, scams, corruption, drug abuse, foreign inmates in Thai jails and the sad lives of child beggars at Angkor Wat, as well as sex on the road among travelers in the column “The Khaosan Stalker,” written by an expat woman. Above all, we tried to keep up a spontaneous approach. After the military coup of 2006 that deposed Thaksin, we were on deadline. Our managing editor Daniel Cooper got some photos of soldiers and tanks massing around government house at midnight and we decided to become the only travel mag ever to put a tank on the cover. 

Then me, Dan and Cam wrote up a quick story about our different experiences during the coup that night, and how the CBC interviewed me on national radio about the event with their usual flurry of dramatic clichés, “As you approached the soldiers with their live weapons did you feel afraid for your life?” “Not really. The first thing I saw was an old Thai guy presenting the soldiers with a bouquet of roses, and the military announced the coup on TV by saying in Thai, ‘Sorry for the inconvenience…’”