Korat RTAFB security gate at west end of the base. (Photo Courtesy 388th SPS)
by Steve Hock
After finishing Jungle School it Clark AB, PI, I departed for Korat on about 4 May 1971.
Departure was on a World Airways contract flight leaving around 0500 with a flight time of about 3+ hours, putting us into Don Muang Airport (Bangkok, Thailand) sometime around 0830.
We were all told to stand by in the airport “lounge” .. not to go anywhere .. and wait for the C-130 “Klong Bird” leaving for Korat, NKP, Ubon & Udorn at 0915.
Well … 0915 came and went and no sign of any boarding or flight info.
Finally, about 1000 they announced that the flight would be delayed (no shit .. it was already 45 minutes late) and would not depart until about noon. And that we were free to do whatever .. just be back in time.
Most of us just hung out in the terminal being new to the country and not being too adventurous yet. All of us were anxious to get where we were going ASAP.
Well, … the noon deadline came and went. We were instructed to return at 1500 … engine trouble with the aircraft. So, three more hours to wait around amid much groaning and complaining about the Air Force by the would be passengers.
You guessed it … 1500 came and went with instructions to return at 1800. Oh yeah .. now a LOT of pissing, moaning and cursing at this latest revelation! People were getting tired, hungry, frustrated and irritated! Does the Air Force only have ONE DAMN AIRPLANE over here? Holy Smokes! This was getting ridiculous!
Now .. It was getting late, 1800 arrived and still no flyable aircraft! BUT not to despair, another plane was being flown in …. TOMORROW! What the hell! Now people were really pissed.
Jim Alley was TDY to Korat in March of 72 and I was assigned to be his assistant and familiarize him with the base and get him where he needed to be. While we were set up at the HH-43 helipad waiting for some F-105s to taxi by he took my camera and made this shot of me. We worked together about 3 days until he returned to TSN.
I was sitting around the terminal with a few other airmen waiting for the flight and wondering what to do, … this LT comes up and asks if anyone is going to Korat and would they be willing to share a taxi cost with him. It was going to cost about $80 US Dollars. He was looking for three plus himself to share the cost. A TAXI?? No Way!
At first I wasn’t interested. But then 1800 turned into 2000 and I was getting pretty darn tired of sitting around that airport. The LT came back through and said he had two others now … one more and they were off. Three and a half hours and they’d be at Korat. My hand shot up and impulsively I shouted “I’ll go” !
This LT had been in the country previously and spoke some Thai, understood the money and had a working knowledge of how to get things done in the country. After collecting our money, he left us for a time and after about 30 minutes he returned saying he had secured a taxi for us and to gather our gear and come outside to the taxi area.
By now it was getting dark. Our battered little yellow Datsun taxi awaited. Four GIs and the Thai driver were going to spend the next three and half hours stuffed into this little car, driving at breakneck speeds and driving on THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!
The LT rode in the suicide seat (along side the driver) and three of us were crammed in the back. The little Datsun labored under the weight of us and our gear. We carreened through the streets of Bangkok until finally hitting the “open road” up to Korat. The little car struggled to do 100+ “clicks” and the driver fearlessly negotiated all the traffic, buses, potholes, pedestrians, animals and whatever road hazard came our way. And why not? Heck … Buddha was protecting him (and us) all the way!
After an hour of so of thinking I’d be killed any minute and that this was how I was to die in Southeast Asia, I became so stressed and so tired I finally fell asleep … resigned to my fate.
Hours of bumpy sleep went by. Punctuated by numerous swerves, hard stops, horn honking and periodic loud “muttering” of our driver along with a few choice admonishments from our LT tour guide.
At long last, about 0100, the little Datsun came to a halt under yellowish bright lights. I wake, look out, It’s obviously an airbase security gate .. a pitifully small one, manned by two uniformed Thai soldiers. The LT shows his ID, speaks to the guard and vouches for all of us. The driver and the Thai gate guard have a brief conversation and off we go again. This time slower (thankfully) … on the base. The LT gave some instructions to the driver in Thai and in a few minutes we pulled up in front of a large, two-story white, block barracks building.
The LT told me this was the quarters for enlisted new arrivals on the first floor to just go in and find an empty bunk and call my unit in the morning. Happy to be there at long last I extracted myself and my gear from the little Datsun, hoping to never, ever to have another ride like that!
It was nearly 1:30 in the morning. I had finally arrived “in country”. The adventure had just begun!