''I was there'' - Famous moments in history you witnessed in person

**DJ Pat** · 1st September 2011 08:10

I was in Chiang Mai the day Thaksin won the election in 2001. At the time I knew bugger all about Thai politics, so the celebrations were lost on me.

The day Dave Lee Travis dramatically resigned live on air from Radio One, I had my ear to my transistor. A legendary moment in BBC broadcasting history.

DLT - his contributions were no longer appreciated

The infamous Vinnie Jones incident when he grabbed Gazza (Paul Gascoigne)'s bollocks, was witnessed at Wimbledon by me and my dad.

Hollywood superstar Vinnie Jones was once an English
Premier league superstar.

On the day Bangkok witnessed small scale terrorism I was 30 metres from the blast at Major Ratchayothin. Boy it was loud, and knocked out the power to the mall.

Can anyone beat these legendary feats?

**cluezo** · 1st September 2011 08:52

I was there

Up front & personal with the Gary Condit /Chandra Levy scandal.

Former Congressman Gary Condit

Imagine my surprise the day three FBI agents along with a squad of Thai police arrived at my school in Rayong to question me in the disappearance of Washington DC political intern Chandra Levy. Congressman Condit was having an affair with Levy so he was implicated in the case and since I worked for Gary for many years as an investigator and had somewhat of a shady reputation, I, too, was under investigation. The FBI thought perhaps that I somehow smuggled her to Thailand to hide because she was having Gary's baby. They took me to my house in Rayong where they did a search and dusted for prints. Then took me to the US Embassy in Bangkok and questioned me for 3 days (not continuously)

To make a long story short, they were eventually satisfied that I was not involved. Levy's remains were later found in a DC park. She had been murdered. Her murderer was eventually caught. This was a huge national scandal which cost Gary his job as Congressman and put me back on the FBI's radar screen (we have a history together)

**happynz** · 1st September 2011 09:08

^ That's fascinating, Cluezo. What has become of Condit?

I've ridden out several large destructive earthquakes in the past year (this Sunday will be the one-year anniversary of the 7.1 Darfield temblor).

**cluezo** · 1st September 2011 09:10

Originally Posted by happynz

That's fascinating, Cluezo. What has become of Condit?

He lives in Arizona now where he runs a Baskins & Robbins ice cream store (believe it or not)

**DJ Pat** · 1st September 2011 09:15

I once walked past Paradorn at the Conrad Hotel, he was pleasant enough to say hello. When I saw him months later mounting his huge motorcycle in Thong Lor, he recognised me. (Well, I asked him if he did)

**tomcat** · 1st September 2011 09:15

...I lived in Iran during the revolution that threw the Shah out and was eventually evacuated by the US Air Force to Athens...

**Getorfmoiland** · 1st September 2011 09:22

Within a km of the Baltic Exchange and London Bridge bombing, about 30m from the grenade on Sala Daeng BTS etc (still haven't got me), the poll tax riots and, last but not least, the infamous Monkton Farleigh no strawberry jam for the scones incident of 2001, a defining moment in human history.

**happynz** · 1st September 2011 09:22

^^ Since you had to leave in a hurry there wasn't a redundancy payment from your former employer then?

**tomcat** · 1st September 2011 09:30

...nothing...just the usual paycheck and the opportunity to enrol in the unemployment program in the US...the thanks I received for staying til the end (unlike 99% of other management) was an option to work for the comapny at a later date in a reduced capacity in Saudi...it was my first introduction to how business works...

**Getorfmoiland** · 1st September 2011 09:35

^ Nice, "you risked your life for the company, have a demotion"!

**Cantona** · 1st September 2011 12:41

The fall of the Berlin Wall..........

**zeusbheld** · 1st September 2011 12:46

quite a few things i was nearly there for... lived 2.25 miles from Ground Zero on 9/11. watched Central World burn from my balcony (i'd estimate the distance was similar). was a few blocks away when Takky was out in front of the Accession celebration, glad-handing, uninvited. of course, who can forget the coup? lovely tanks, just lovely.

one thing that didn't even make the papers that i was there for: an alleged grenade attack on red shirt protestors near Lad Prao Big C. They had gathered under an overpass, i came out of the Mangopong video shop and heard a ruckus toward the overpass. everyone was running toward Big C, and away from the overpass, so i did what they always do in Godzilla movies and ran too. a red shirt in Big C (who looked a rather burly fella) said someone had dropped a grenade on the people from the overpass. not sure what actually happened but something happened, and it involved fire, black smoke and what sounded an awful lot like pistol shots.

---Update---

Originally Posted by Getorfmoiland

about 30m from the grenade on Sala Daeng BTS etc

My Intended was standing on the very spot where one of the m79 grenade hit near Sala Daeng. fortunately it was about 10 min before the grenade landed, and she'd moved on since. she works with journos (a "fixer", they arrange things and translate from Thai) so she had reason to be there.

**cluezo** · 1st September 2011 13:30

I went through this little bit of nastiness

The Battle of Huế

The Battle of Huế during 1968, was one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the Vietnam War (1959–1975). The Army of the Republic of Vietnam and three understrength U.S. Marine Corps battalions attacked and defeated more than 10,000 entrenched People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, also known as, Viet Cong) guerrilla forces.

**goo_stewart** · 1st September 2011 14:02

^Fuckin jesus mate, that fight wasn't pretty. You that old? Much respect to you for being there then. Some bad shit, got any good stories about the AVRN running away from it all?