One of those stories that get passed along from GI to GI in Thailand is the famous Fuck You Lizard. It is actually a gecko called the Tokay
. Herpetologists say their call is “Tokay” thus the name, but to a GI with too much time of their hands in a foreign land it is easy to get the translations “Fuck You”. I can attest that a many of nights while in the barracks writing a letter while sitting on my bunk the sounds from outside the louvered slats on the window the insulting lizard would be calling out. “Fuck Que, Fuck Que, Fuck Que”, well into the night the sounds would reverberate throughout the compound.
The gecko was smart also, knowing we were Americans, they spoke in English to us. How nice!
Fuck You, fuck que. Y*ep. Zackley how it sounded.
See my story about that lizard: Facebook, George McDaniel (the photo is of me holding a redfish I released), May 6, 2022.
I remember that sound..oh yeah and that’s what it sounded like!
Udorn 66-67 comm Sq
I was in Udorn about the same time as you were. I was in the Army and we had our own little post inside the Thai Army post. I did, however, work inside the large Air Force Base there in a TRC 90/A tropo van,
We were pulling gard duty one night in Tahkli at a supply depot when I saw this large grey lizard, looked like a savannah monitor, hanging out on a wall under a light. It let out this loud call that didn’t sound at all like tokay “Fuck You” it said several times at high volume. A sentry on another post was so rattled he challenged it with ” Who Dat – Who Dat!”. “Come out and say that to my face!”. I pointed out to him he was yelling at a lizard.
Great story! I wasn’t ever in Takhli but was somewhat near there when I went to Korat and finally to Ubon from Udorn. That was in 1966.