Below is a link to a video promoting Thailand in 1960, this video was made for Pan Am. To think how American’s viewed Thailand in 1960- prior to affordable air travel that made the world accessible and readily accessible information that has resulted from technology, and I would imagine the Thai food and culture had not yet arrived in America.

And Bangkok was the largest city in Southeast Asia at that time- with under 1,000,000 people.

There are some very funny parts of the video, like 5:10 into the video where the narrator says “weird figures hold up the towers”, certainly not politically correct by today’s standards. An odd moment is when the narrator describes the monks as ‘priests’- possibly that was intentional? Did the masses in 1960 America understand much about monks?

I only wish I could have visited ‘that’ Thailand. While I am sure there were many frustrations for the picky tourist coming from America, the authentic culture on display must have been simple amazing.