bangkok beats - A book review

Bangkok Beats book review

As I sit feeling the holiday comedown blues, whilst ignoring the ever increasing multitude of Christmas adverts (which when your single and your whole family lives in another country is hardly a fun and magical time) my eyes stray to a book cast haphazardly on my travel bag and a promise made in a dimly lit cabaret bar in Bangkok Thailand. The promise made was to a man who (I'm 99% sure introduced himself as Gerry) gifted me the tome after we struck up a conversation. The promise entailed that I would read and then review the book. The first part was easy, I had about twenty hours worth of travelling ahead of me so I certainly had the time to spare. The second part – well he didn't know me from Adam, that could have meant a two line blurb on Amazon that consisted of nothing but buzz words. However, though a promise to me means a fair bit more than that. Plus seeing as reviewing is something I've been doing for ten years (but for toys not books and on YouTube rather than behind a keyboard) I now present my promise.

Bangkok is a city of splendours, its home to a multitude of ethnicities and eccentricities, it presents splendid hospitality which is a veneer for a metropolis that has a pretty dark and violent side where the brutal side of humanity presents itself. Glittering and glitzy shopping malls cuddle up alongside dim unlit alleys that smell of waste. Five star restaurants have to reached by moving through a parade of delicious and not so delicious street food vendors. The entertainment's of the city will cater to all tastes no matter how extreme or hedonistic.

Bangkok Beats does not expose all of this to you. Rather it lets you have a brief shutter click through the keyhole. It can be used as the first step into a world of myriad paths and intertwining winding roads of Bangkok and not all of them will lead to a pleasant surprise at the end. Written by Kevin Cummings and published in 2015 it is a collection of histories, interviews, poems and personal accounts of the time writers, poets and sports stars who live at least part time in this city.
The book starts off with accounts of the venue whose caricature picture is on the front cover – the Checkin99, a cabaret bar that I myself frequented and found that its eclectic mix of people suited me perfectly. It gives a brief history from its days as a hangout (when it was called The Copa) for the likes of Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Racquel Welch and Bing Crosby to the “exclusive” hostess bar to its near closure and demolition and lastly to its current state run by Chris and Mook Satto-Smith and its diverse and regular music acts, Noir book nights and live shows. Its also gives a brief glimpse into the life of Checkinn99 characters such as the still lovely Mama Noi and Sumai the dwarf doorman whose location (and fate) is still unknown.

Moving on from this as I don't want to give too much away the next segment is an interview with Cara Black a murder mystery writer which gives a fascinating glimpse of insight into the attraction that Bangkok has. This is just the first of a series of interviews with some of the Noir writers of Bangkok such as Timothy Hallinan author of the successful Poke Rafferty series – and a series that is now firmly on my “to read” list. Others include writers and poets all of whom base themselves part or full-time in the City of Angels. Some of names and interviewed presented in the book are James A. Newman, photographer Eric Nelson, Matt Carell (who gifted me the book) another writer whose work I feel I want to examine more closely, poetry by John Gartland and much more. As a part time (by which I mean when the mood strikes to actually do it) writer the interviews and excerpts were of particular interest to me. But it doesn't stop there, there are stories regarding the real life people of Thailand such as Mook the waitress and female Muay Thai champion Melissa Ray. As well as this there are segments dedicated to the Cambodian band Krom and its singer Christopher Minko.
Chris Coles a well known Bangkok(ian?) artist whose paintings are instantly recognisable when you know who are they are. Vibrant with a style and flair of their own, his work is viewable in such places as Checkinn99. He is one of those artists you will either love or hate (much like Bangkok itself) personally I found his use of vivid colours inspiring.
My personal favourite segment is “Fictional Frog Interviews a Pulp Private Eye” It is a brutality honest segment that you have to check out for yourself.

On the whole Bangkok Beat doesn't sugar coat things, its tells you how it is. But not all, as I said at the start it provides you the merest glimpse of what there is out there in Bangkok. It lights a fire under you to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes no matter how dark that hole may get. It does what any good media does – it leaves you wanting more. It is also a great reference starting point for those who want to learn more both the fiction and non fiction of this most amazing city. Which is what I've tried to do here – give you a taste of Bangkok Beat and hopefully get you reading (and supporting the writer) the book itself.

Simon Skey 17/11/2015