The Virtual Corkscrew Museum's Daily Newspaper

---

Searching Bangkok

Reported by Correspondent Alf Erickson

Bangkok, Thailand - Yesterday started off with a search for a "cheesy bar set" that had a strange corkscrew in it.

Don Bull had given us these leads:

This cheesy bar set comes in a nice wooden box. Inside the box is a cloth label:

James Quality Jewellers, 542/13-14 Petchaburi Rd. Opp. Metro Theatre, Bangkok, Thailand, P. O. Box 2144.

Branch: 1383 Phangi Yotin Road, Near Capital Hotel, Beware of stores using a similar name.

Main Store Tel. 55979 58010, Branch Store Tel. 70991 75518

The utensils are marked MADE IN SIAM (Siam became Thailand in 1939)

We began out search for James Quality Jewellers (*) ... [using Don's 'road map'] (**) ... by attempting to visit the company's branch location on Phangi Yotin Road. We called ahead to see if it was open, but the phone number Don gave us was for the Capital Hotel (***). The voice on the other end of the line was ambiguous about our intentions. So we decided to just take a taxi to James' address and ferret about on our own.

James Quality Jewellers is no longer there ... there is no forwarding address ... and the place where it might have once been is now tightly bolted shut.

Next, we tried the main office of James (****) ... over on Petchaburi Road. However, it was even more nonexistent than the branch. And, no amount of inquiries found anyone who had ever heard of James Quality Jewel(l)ers or of James Quality Jewelers.

Does this mean that the "cheesy" Siam bar set is now worth a fortune? Probably.

---

(*) Thai spelling of English words is many times quite eccentric.

(**) "James Quality Jewellers Branch Office: 1383 Phangi Yotin Road, Near Capital Hotel, Tel. 70991 75518. Beware of stores using a similar name."

(***) "James Quality Jewellers Main Office: 542/13-14 Petchaburi Road, Opp. Metro Theatre, Bangkok, Thailand, P.O. Box 2144, Tel. 55979 58010."

(****) The Capital Hotel is a 'curtain hotel: one that caters to anonymous short stay trysts.

Alf Erickson's Corkscrew-Balloon Website

News Index