The most scary event occurred in a country I enjoyed living in – that was Thailand.

         We lived in Bangkok for eighteen months.

         We rented a very pleasant apartment, in a guarded compound, in a affluent area of the city.

         It was next to the First Army Division Headquarters. We believed this to be to our advantage.

         We never expected the area would turn into a battle ground during a military coup. Coups were not uncommon in Thailand.

         My office had been the home of a former Prime Minister. It still had a secret stair way leading to the river. Legend has it he use it to escape to England on a merchant navy ship when the troops were bashing down his front door.

          The building had been used by the Japanese as an interrogation centre during their occupation. The Thai staff would not go near the office at night.

         Let me tell you my story.

         On the night of Sunday 8th September 1985 I had not slept well. I had heard a strange rumbling noise I could not account for.

         I rose at my usual hour and walked to the river. I caught my 7:30 river boat and headed for work.

         When I arrived at my office I made a cup of coffee and settled down to do some work.

         Shortly after eight o’clock there were some very loud explosions. The Thai staff started buzzing around like swarming bees muttering something about a coup.

         I asked Chirabhan, my P.A, to phone my wife and tell he to stay home as there was trouble in the city.

         Little did I know by staying home Joyce was in greater danger. She was very close to the scene of a battle  containing eighteen tanks and many troops.

         The UNDP staff all fled and I was left alone in the office. I noticed the river boats were all packed with people so I waited until they had eased then I headed for home. I had no idea what was going on.

         Normally these river boats hold about 50 people but on that day there were at least 300 on the boat I got on.

         I was scared as I got pushed into the cabin and thought if we capsized I was in a dangerous position.

         Joyce meanwhile was in the thick of the battle.  There were shells and machine gun bullets going over our apartment.

         Because of the vibrations from the shelling Joyce put all out china on the floor then she lay on our bed.

         She turned on the TV to see if she could find out what was going on. All the maids and people in our compound had fled. But excited army generals talking in Thai were not very informative.

         Ultimately I reached our apartment carrying an armful of emergency rations I had managed to buy.

         Joyce was remarkable calm after her terrifying ordeal.

         At 4pm I managed to tune into the BBC on my small pocket radio. I found out the King of Thailand had intervened and the coup was over.

         Fancy having to turn into London to find out what was happening over our back fence – good old Aunty Bee!

         Later we found out fifty soldiers were killed or wounded but the civilian casualty figures were never revealed. The indiscriminate shelling by the tanks must have killed many.

         Neil Davis , the  famous Australian NBC cameraman , and his Canadian sound-man, William Lash, were both killed outside the First Army Division’s radio station. They were both killed while sheltering  behind a telephone junction box.

         As they were the only  impartial witnesses I suspect the killing was deliberate  to prevent the recording of incriminating evidence. This all happened a block away from our apartment.

Geoffrey Moss(mossassiciates.co.nz)

“ A good tale is none the worse for being told twice.”

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