Ben Oostdam's Journal of Three Years (1954-1957) in T H A I L A N D

Until the end of 1954, we spent most of our days, evenings and weekends at the Dutch Bank.
I worked in the Cashiers Department with Jaap Koster, Jan in the Letters of Credit with Henk Altink.
Every evening the two of us had to compare all the current account records of the Cashier (downstairs)
with those of the Bookkeeping (upstairs).
Soon we learned to read the amounts to each other in Chinese, so we could finish faster.

Jan and I in the usual whites with tie. Remember, no air-conditioning in the Bank...

New Road looking from front of the Bank to the right not yet as busy as nowadays....

Jan being served a cold drink. Behind him, the stairs to Bookkeeping and Archives

There were four main groups of employees:

The Dutch Staff : J.D. van Oenen Manager Kees van Dongen Accountant Jaap Koster Cash Henk Altink Bills of Exchange Wim Fleurbaay Correspondence & Bookkeeping Ben Oostdam Cash Jan Hempenius Letters of Credit

The Chinese Staff: [A] the Compradore- who worked on a commission basis- two or three assistants [B] the Cashier one or two assistants

The "In betweens": [A] four Portuguese : Gaan Bookkeeping Foyn Foreign Exchange Victal Foreign Exchange Da Silva Bills of Exchange [B] two "Indo's ": Dijkstra Correspondence Fortuin Archives

The Thai Staff: several dozen male and female clerks working under the supervision of the other three groups