Motorists zooming down Mitraphap Road on the way to Khao Yai National Park in Saraburi are often startled to spot an old military aircraft with US markings looming in the distance. The sight is sufficiently odd to make many passers-by pull in and ask Paisal Phoprasert, the current owner of the plane, what on earth it’s doing there parked all alone next to the thoroughfare.
“I might eventually turn it [the plane] into an advertising billboard. So many children ask their parents to stop the car because they’re so eager to check it out,” chuckled Paisal, a laid-back, unassuming type who retired from a job in the Royal Thai Navy a few years back.
The vintage plane in question is a Douglas C-47 Skytrain (aka the Dakota), a military transport developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It just happens to be one of the larger objects in Paisal’s collection of objects dating back to the Vietnam War and World War II. He only started collecting seriously about a decade ago and said that his interest in military memorabilia developed almost by chance.
“I was never really into history, but I used to go to a lot of flea markets,” he recalled. “I’d buy and resell vintage items as a hobby and I’d often find heaps of interesting stuff just by browsing through the stalls. One thing led to another and, before I realised quite what was happening, military-issue stuff had became a real passion of mine.”
A Remington typewriter from 1940.
Stepping into the warehouse where Paisal stores his collection is like being transported back in time. The placement of objects, arranged in no discernible order and without the benefit of display shelves, gives the place an even more appealing atmosphere. His collectibles include still-functioning photographic equipment from 1965, a metal food tray manufactured in 1960 and used by soldiers fighting in Vietnam, a Remington typewriter from 1940, and a medical corps-issue bed dating back to the Second World War.
Paisal doesn’t know for sure how many items he has collected over the past decade, but is sure that the total would exceed 100,000 if he were to include all the smaller objects like cooking utensils, books, flags and water canteens.
You don’t have to be a military historian or even a casual history buff to appreciate what this ex-mariner has amassed over the years. The ambience in this warehouse is wonderfully redolent of battles fought before many of us were even born.
The dusty smell, dim lighting and the well-used look of all these seemingly haphazardly arranged items is something you’d never get in a regular museum. The experience is so surreal that I could almost visualise a wounded soldier lying on that metal bedstead.
And this impressive collection came into being very much by chance. It all started with a knife that Paisal unearthed at a flea-market stall. What initially grabbed his attention, he said, was the fact that the knife was made in 1902 and bore the serial number 9999. Nine is regarded as lucky number by most Thais, and four nines together could be especially auspicious, so Paisal bought it right away.
“But after I got that knife, I felt attracted to all things vintage because they tend to have interesting stories attached. I learn more [about the subject] mostly from clients of mine or fellow vintage enthusiasts who stop by my stall whenever I take part in a flea market. Not all of these stories are credible, of course — some people like to make things up — but there are a lot of interesting and inspiring stories out there as well. I do more research into things I feel especially interested in,” Paisal explained, going on to tell me he has the production year and the backstory of every single item in his collection off by heart.
The warehouse, a medium-sized building about the same size as the average 7-Eleven store, is the repository for just
a part of his collection; the rest is stored in several other venues, he noted.
And the value of his collection? Unknown. He said he can’t estimate the total value, not because he doesn’t remember how much he paid for each object but because he believes you can’t put a price on the sentimental value many of these items have for him.
“Sometimes when I sell a piece of mine, the asking price is based on whether or not I like the person buying it. I’m just like that. If we get on well, sometimes I give things away for free. If I don’t like the person,
I might name a totally crazy price just to put them off buying. You can’t really put
a price tag on something which holds emotional value.”
To the uninitiated, these bits and scraps of old metal might seem like so much trash, but Paisal can feel such an attachment towards objects of unusual origin that he is willing to spend big money on acquiring them. And while he doesn’t like to talk about how much he paid for an item, he is always happy to hold forth on its history and tell the tale of how it came into his possession.
“Sadly, not many people nowadays see the value of old things. Some of these pieces were sold to me by the descendants of soldiers who lost their lives in some war, but these relatives didn’t even bother to find out more about the objects they had inherited. I think it’s all about perception, really: gems and stones can be one and the same [depending on the viewer’s perspective].”
Paisal is now negotiating a deal with the owner of Chokchai Farm, a popular agro-tourism destination in Nakhon Ratchasima, with a view to opening a small vintage museum to showcase some of his possessions, but nothing has been confirmed as yet.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in some potted history lessons and you have some free time this coming weekend, Paisal is bringing a small selection of his treasures down to Bangkok for the “Made By Legacy” flea market to be hosted by Studio 61 on Sukhumvit Soi 61.
“I’m not looking to make big bucks at the Made By Legacy market. I just want people to look at old things from a different angle. We throw away so many things nowadays, thinking they are useless or meaningless. This event may help to remind people about the beauty of things from the past. The intrinsic value of an item is all to do with how you view it and has nothing whatsoever to do with the price tag that may be attached to it.”
Paisal’s C-47 Skytrain acts as a magnet for passing motorists.
