Welcome to Travelfish, original Asia travel intelligence you can trust.
Username: Password: | Join
 

Khao San Road




























 
 

Khao San Road

Despite it being one of the least Thai-like places in the kingdom, the vast majority of Bangkok's independent travellers head straight into neon-lit, pumping and thumping Khao San Road to find a room. It's a backpacker ghetto of Disneyesque proportions, originally projected into fame by pot-smoking hippies ambling their way along the four Ks of Kabul, Katmandu, KSR and Kuta. Despite its complete transformation since then, it has stayed alive in traveller imaginations due in no short part to Leonardo DiCaprio and his role in the rather lacklustre film The Beach.

Situated in the heart of Bangkok on the northern edge of Ko Rattanakosin, Bangkok's Old City, Khao San is a hub of somewhat crazed activity. It's home to budget guesthouses rubbing shoulders with new, brashly upmarket hotels, dusty silvershops, stalls selling fisherman's pants and compasses, pad thai vendors, a fastfood joint or two and the occasional elephant.

Travel agencies here will accommodate any imaginable travel need, while streetside bars will serve up cheap beer until the early hours. It's heaven for many and hell for a few. Plenty of travellers stay for a lot longer than they originally plan, enjoying the whole friendly I'm-a-traveller-not-a-tourist scene, cheap massage and great food. The street, by the way, is a lot shorter than any apocryphal tales you've heard might suggest.


 
















Due to the incredible demand for rooms in this area, Khao San has literally split at the seams and guesthouses have now sprung up within a kilometre-radius. The further you move from the road, the better, cheaper and quieter your guesthouse is likely to be, perhaps with more of a local flavour.

For those who do want to be within easy walking distance of KSR but don't want to deal with the madness, west Banglamphu is your best bet. If you don't mind a bit of walking though, the National Library area is superior in terms of tranquility and guesthouse quality.

If you find the choice a bit intimidating, read our feature, What is a good guesthouse in Bangkok?

Though we understand that you might not really feel you've "done" Bangkok unless you've stayed here, there are other areas in Bangkok these days that have some fantastic guesthouses and all the services a traveller needs -- just without the hazy history. Do consider them as well.

Add to scrapbook



 
Travelfish Guides: Bringing together the best of the Travelfish site in a concise, easy to read format.
Buy a Ko Phi Phi 2008 Travelfish Guide   Buy a Ko Samet Travelfish Guide   Buy a Kanchanaburi Travelfish Guide   Buy a Phuket 2008 Travelfish Guide   Buy a Ko Tao 2009 Travelfish Guide  
 

  Search for accommodation


Search for guesthouses & hotels
where in Thailand?

Sort results by:
Travelfish ranking (best first)
Price (cheapest first)
Name (A-Z)
Show only properties bookable online


Sponsored listings


Recommended reading

 » Brilliant Bangkok
 » Exploring the Lungs of Bangkok
 » The changing face of Khao San Road
 » What is a good guesthouse in Bangkok?
 » Lonely Planet Thailand 12: Stick with the old edition
 

Khao San Road reviews

Backchat from the Travelfish community

Khao San Road is the scam central of Bangkok!
By Jon_Mak_Mak (dabbler - 2 reviews)
Written on 23rd May, 2009 after a visit to Khao San Road in February, 2007

Having been to Khao San many times as a tourist, a backpacker and also as a resident of Bangkok on a couple of occasions I have a different view of the area to a lot of people who just pass trough or spend a couple of nights there.

For first-time tourists to Thailand or longer-term backpackers that don't know much about Bangkok or Thai culture it might seem like a great place, but anyone that has visited this area more than a handful of times will probably have a different opinion.

On my last trip to Thailand when I took my parents I even skipped Khao San Road altogether. It's nothing special, a quick stroll down might be OK just to see it, but after that I'd rather be somewhere else! If you travel halfway around the world to see a load of drunken westerners it might be an ideal area for you to hangout.

A backpacker ghetto it is, a place of good service it is not!

Honestly, the way that most of the Thai people working around here treat foreigners is disgusting. Equally, the way a lot of foreigners behave around here is also truly atrocious!! Some of the things I have seen in Khao San Road have -- at the time -- made me feel embarrassed to be a westerner. Some of the tourists/backpackers attitudes and total disregard for local culture is shocking. Maybe it's that they don't know about the Thai culture -- which is extremely different from ours -- or maybe they just don't care. It doesn't take too much effort to do a little research of the country before you go and it will make your experience much better if you do.

If it's not the touts constantly trying to scam you, or the market people trying to sell you things for a (usually) much more expensive price than many, many other places in Bangkok, it will be one of the other various scam that will get you!

Most of the hotels here are cheap but not very nice. I have stayed in some truly awful, low budget rooms here and it's worth paying a bit more and getting the best you can afford. I have stayed in a few hotels in Khao San over the years and also looked at many more or been in others with friends staying there but I'm not going to recommend any of them!

A lot of the food isn't that great around Khao San either, its usually made very quick and to 'westerners tastes' which is a shame because it's usually the first place many people taste Thai food in Thailand. But that's not to say that it's all bad. I can recommend The Lat Na in Buddy Beer Bar (was good in 2007 anyway) and I've had some good chicken and cashew nuts from the Sawasdee Banglampu Inn. You will see loads of people walking around eating pad thai but please, try some other Thai food as there are so many really nice dishes. I can recommend Pad Gra Pao Moo (thai basil with pork), gaeng keow wan wai or gaeng pet gai (green or red curry with chicken), lat na (thick noodle in gravy) or tom yam talay (the famous hot & sour soup but with mixed seafood instead of the usual prawns).

At the western end of Khao San Road (opposite end to Burger King) is a much quieter area around Soi Rambutti, This is where I might go for a drink if I'm in Bangkok and find myself in this neck of the woods. There's a good little restaurant near the police station end of the soi (about halfway down) called something like Thai Garden, it's a basic set up with some picnic-bench style seats. The food in here has been good before and the service is (usually) a bit better than a lot of places.

I can understand why a lot of backpackers like this area, I think it's because of the cheap accommodation and food and they probably feel safe in their numbers but as I said before, the service around Khao San Road is usually really bad and I can understand why, I just don't like to experience that service myself. If you go there first don't let it put you off Thailand because the country (and people) really aren't like this. This is a major tourist trap and travellers should be wary of everyone from tuk-tuk's and taxi drivers to Thai girls and other travellers they meet.

TIP:
Never get a tour bus from Khao San Road such as the bus to Cambodia. I've had first hand experience of the scams/cons and I know other people that have had the same bad experiences. There are plenty of other ways to get around Thailand, like the government buses or flying with Air Asia (cheap flights). The Thais use the government buses too and none use the tour agents from Khao San Road so go figure. Basically, when in Thailand just look what the Thais are doing -- If a restaurant is full of Thais it should be ok. If they are travelling by it, it should be ok. If a place is full of tourist it will be expensive or just not very good.
  Sights & activities
  History & culture
  Scenery & environment
  Eat & drink
  Traveller's scene
  Romance
  Value for money
  I'll be back (or not)
Also reviewed by Jon_Mak_Mak: Ayutthaya,

Have your say

You need to be logged in to add a review.
Username: Password:
Not a member? you can join here.

Review title

Snappiness encouraged ;-)

When did you visit here?

This gives your review a bit of context - especially if you were last in Khao San Road in 1932.

Your review

(Remotely sensible, non-ranting comments are much appreciated. If you don't like somewhere, please explain why -- it's all far more helpful for others that way.) Serial ranters, loons and spammers will be banished!
And please, no self-promotional URLs -- that's what your signature field is for.


So how does it rate?
On a scale of one to ten (with 10 being outstanding and 1 being bloody awful) how would you rate Khao San Road for the following criteria?

Note: Ratings are OUT OF TEN -- not five!

Sights & activities:  
History & culture:  
Scenery & environment:  
Eat & drink:  
        
Traveller scene:  
Romance:  
Value for money:  
I'll be back (or not):  

Please note comments are edited for clarity, typos and style before they appear. Ranting tirades, spam and anything else that really belongs somewhere else won't make the cut. If you want to rant, go to Thorntree.

Please login and refresh this screen before writing your review -- thanks!




 
 

 

 

The bottom line

This site was constructed out of 100% recycled electrons -- if you don't, you should recycle too!
All material copyright Travelfish Pty Ltd ACN 107 758 985 -- please don't steal our content
Thailand FAQ | Cambodia FAQ | Travel related links | Jobs with Travelfish | Press
For ZoneAlarm Users | Contact Travelfish | Privacy statement | About us
Advertise with Travelfish | How do I get my business listed on Travelfish?
Yahoo! FareChase
Last updated pretty recently ;-)
There are 59 visitors online, kredfern, goldilocks, and your boss!
Travelfish | Blog | Fourelephants | AsiaNewsDesk | BangkokMetro | Affiliates