Dang Bireley

He was born around 1940 in Trok Salak Hin, a narrow alley branching off Rong Mueang Road, beside Hua Lamphong railway station in Bangkok. In the film Dang Bireley's and Young Gangsters, his mother is depicted as a prostitute. In reality, Dang's mother was not a prostitute. She had previously worked as a housekeeper in a brothel located in Trok Bireley, beside Wat Suthat. She gave birth to Dang later in life. When the original owner of the brothel planned to retire, she was entrusted to manage the business as a means to support Dang's upbringing. Daeng and his mother moved to this area, where he acquired the nickname "Bireley" after the alley. At that time, the alley^[b] was also home to the Bireley's soft drink factory.

As Dang grew up, he became the leader of a group of teenage delinquents. He was good-looking, charming, and generous, which drew many friends around him. Each had a nickname, like Pu the Bottle Bomb, Dum Esso, Lam Sing, Phot Charoen Phat, Piak Charoen Phat, Pu Krung Kasem, Lo Saphan Khao, also known as Lo the Cleaver, Phan Lang Wang, Lo Mansi, and Jod Howdy. They were known as the "Ko Lang Wang" (โก๋หลังวัง, lit. 'gangsters behind the palace') named after the area behind Wang Burapha. This was a popular spot for young people to gather.

According to Pu Krung Kasem^[c][2], one of Dang's close friends, who spoke on the TV program Johjai on Channel 5 in 1997, he and Dang were not friends at first. They were just teenage delinquents of the same era. Dang was active on the Phra Nakhon side, while Pu and his friends stayed on the Thonburi side. One day, as Pu was about to start wearing long school trousers, he went to Bang Lamphu to buy fabric. There, he met Dang's group at a food stall in the middle of the Sip Sam Hang Road. Both groups glared at each other and agreed to have a fight the next day. This became a key scene in the film Suek Sim Sam Hang Bang Lamphu (ศึก 13 ห้างบางลำพู, lit. 'the battle of Sip Sam Hang, Bang Lamphu'). Pu and his friends said the film exaggerated the story and it was never that violent in reality.

He also recounted that Dang Bireley and Pu the Bottle Bomb later had a falling out, though it was not violent and had nothing to do with a woman, contrary to the film's story about Wallapa^[d][3], a nightclub singer who was Dang's girlfriend. The real conflict began when Dang won a knife duel in front of a large crowd at Suphachalasai Stadium during a school sports event against students from another school. Dang's victory and the fame he gained made him feel grown-up and independent. This annoyed his close friend Pu, who then harassed Wallapa at the bowling alley in Gaysorn Plaza, trying to provoke her to tell Dang, so that the two friends would come into conflict.

Even though Dang and his gang looked tough in the film, everyone who knew him including Wallapa said he was polite and well-mannered. He didn't drink or smoke, and his favorite drink was a milkshake. Teenage gangsters back then always tried to look good while keeping their reputation.

The fact, which is completely different from the film, is that Dang eventually became a monk and did not die in a car accident while traveling to work for Tycoon Jiew, an influential figure in Chonburi. Instead, he passed away in a traffic accident in Bangkok.^{[1][4][5][6][7]}