Thirty years ago tomorrow, on Nov. 4, 1996, Michael Jackson was in Bangkok, Thailand, with a huge concert just one day away.
He was on his HIStory world tour, the big concert tour that was carrying him from country to country that fall. He’d just come from Mumbai, India, where he played on Nov. 1. After Bangkok, the next stop was Auckland, New Zealand, on Nov. 9.
Thailand already knew him. He’d first played Bangkok back in 1993, at the start of the Asian part of his Dangerous tour. This time the crowd was waiting at the Impact grounds in Muang Thong Thani, just outside the city, for a show on Nov. 5.
A fan channel saved some backstage footage from that Bangkok trip, including Michael at his hotel, and it gives you a real sense of what those days in Thailand looked like.
Behind the scenes with Michael in Bangkok
But the day before the show, Michael spent his time somewhere very different.
He visited a school for blind children. Khaosod English, a Thai news site, later ran a photo of him there, captioned “Michael Jackson at the Bangkok School for the Blind on Nov. 4, 1996.”
A young fan named Wirintip finally got close enough at the school to get his autograph. Years later, she told Khaosod English that his songs helped her become fluent in English. “I listened to his songs and interviews over 100 times. I lost count.”
Then came the moment she’d dreamed about. “I thought if only I could meet him one day, I would be able to talk to him. But when I actually met him, I cried.”
Michael also sat down with MTV in Thailand that year, and you can hear him in that 1996 interview.
Michael’s MTV interview in Thailand
That same day, he also went to an orphanage in Bangkok. According to the Michael Jackson’s Legacy timeline, he reportedly donated $100,000 to the orphanage and handed out toys and gifts to the children at both places he visited.
A spokeswoman at the orphanage summed up what his visit meant to the kids there. Her words had nothing to do with record sales or fame.
“They don’t know him as a pop star. To them he is just a very nice man who came here to offer hope.”
Read that one again. To those kids, one of the most famous entertainers on earth was simply a nice man who came to visit them.
The very next night, Nov. 5, he was back on stage in front of his fans. A report on the Bangkok show, posted by a fan channel, gives you a look at that big night.
A report on Michael’s 1996 Bangkok concert
According to Khaosod English, it turned out to be the last time Michael would ever perform in Thailand. So any footage from that night is worth a look, and another fan compilation brings together more of the show.
More from Michael’s Bangkok show in 1996
Thirty years later, that Bangkok concert is known as his last one in Thailand. The day before it deserves remembering too, and tomorrow marks 30 years since he spent it with those children.