Khao San road Bangkok - backpacker guide
For many backpackers and free-spirited budget travellers, the Khao San road is their first experience of Thailand – a decompression chamber between East and West from where you can arrange and find practically everything. Depending which way you look at it, this modest street is either a fascinating and exciting hub of tourist activity or a seething mass of overcommercialised hippiedom. Either way you can’t deny it’s one of the most popular and intriguing parts of Bangkok , a tourist attraction in its own right that attracts both foreigners and Thais.
The opening scene of the now legendary backpacker movie the Beach, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, gets rolling here and although the swallowing of snake’s blood by locals isn’t entirely true, it certainly does have its seedy and mysterious side. And ever since the movie, Khao San road can’t live down its legendary status. Mostly however, it’s a convenient starting point for arranging your trip around Thailand with dozens of tour agents, internet cafes, guesthouses and bars, a few night clubs and plenty of shopping – hawking everything from pirated CDs to luggage, clothing, tattoos and more.
Khao San Road is a rather dizzying frenetic place today, but its roots go back to 1982 when it was a quiet residential street with houses owned by the city’s elite, those who could afford nice places a close distance away from the capital’s important Grand Palace area. The year 1982, was, on the Buddhist calendar, the auspicious 2525, and to celebrate this date, along with Bangkok ’s bicentennial, the Thai government launched a massive campaign to attract tourist dollars.
Backpackers who arrived in Thailand and who were unlikely to have the funds to pay for a night’s slumber at the Oriental’s Somerset Maugham suite soon found themselves negotiating with house owners on the Khao San Road for lodging and the soon guest houses started appearing.
But it was not until Lonely Planet author Joe Cummings picked out the place as a good budget area that it caught on and within 10 years it had become legendary among world travellers. Today it’s come full circle as upmarket pubs and guest houses, even some hotels, have moved in, but the essence of the place is still wonderfully bohemian and perfect for people watching. Even if you do find it a bit ‘full-on’ there are plenty of quiet lanes to disappear down.
Khao San Road : Backpacker central
Khao San Road is also conveniently placed for visiting the most historic part of the city – Banglamphu and Rattanokosin Isle, where many of the best attractions are located. These include, Sanam Luang, and the Grand Palace/Wat Phra Kaew compound, Temple Mount, Wat Po and the Dusit area with its exemplary Vimanmek teak palace. Access to the city’s waterways, a great way to get around, are close at the area’s Banglamphu pier. River boats to the Saphan Taksin pier will take you into the thriving Silom district of Bangkok.
Khao San Road Entertainment
Everyone from holdouts of the Bob Marley generation to female Thai university students come out to shake their collective booties at popular discos such as Lucy’s and Gulliver’s. Step into the latter and you’ll wonder if you ever left the West – that is until a six-foot tall transvestite in a tight dress tries his/her luck with you!
Khao San Road Shopping
Given that almost all of the vendors on Khao San Road speak at least some English, this is an excellent area to do some shopping and pick up some supplies. As elsewhere in a Thai-style market, almost no prices are fixed and you are free to indulge in bargaining to your heart’s content.
Khao San Road is an excellent place to shop for any number of items including clothes, hats, shoes, Thai handicrafts, beach wear, video games, CDs. Khao San Road also has the best selection of second-hand bookstores in Thailand , often with English speaking staff to help you track down a particular title.
Khao San Road Eating
Travelling tastebuds should find some comfort on the Khao San Road, with several guesthouses offering fare for foreigners, which at times may not live up to your expectations – sausage = hotdog. Still there are some tasty eats on offer on Khao San Road in particular delicious falafels made at an outdoor stall on the street, fresh fruit of various kinds on offer everywhere.
Khao San Road Travel
All roads lead to Khao San Road, or at least cheap tourist transport does. When you arrive at Bangkok’s airport it’s most practical to simply take a taxi (300 baht), there are buses into the city but it will take you hours of changing buses, saving perhaps 150 baht in the end (the opening of the rail service in mid 2010 will make it easier to get there without taxis, but on the whole they are very affordable in Bangkok). Khao San Road itself has plenty of travel agencies, often in the guesthouses, that can arrange journeys to practically any destination in the country. You can get combo train/minibus/ferry tickets to Koh Pha Ngan for example, with a pickup and departure from Khao San Road, thus saving you the hassle. To get to other parts of the city you need to catch buses, or the river buses/boats.
Khao San Road Accommodation
There are dozens of places to stay on or near Khao San Road, ranging from 100 baht a night dives to boutique hotels at 1500 baht a room. The choice is large and suits all budgets, it’s also wiser to seek out a place off the actual street, down the lanes and inside the courtyards that make up this warren like neighbourhood know to locals as Banglamphu. Staying away from the noise is important, some places have nice atmospheres with peaceful outdoor restaurants and others are just charmless cheap digs. Soi Rambuttri is an extension of Khao San Road, off Chakrabongse Road, beside Wat Songkram , which is a little less chaotic and often a better choice. It’s possible to show up and look around, but in the busy season we strongly advise pre-booking online. You can also choose from our recommended Bangkok guesthouses page.
Read about the latest hot nightlife venues in our Thailand entertainment forum.
Traveller tale: Bangkok's bohemians zone
Khao San road in Bangkok, the city's world-famous backpacker's haven...more
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