"We are not coming back" : Tourists give the thumbs down to Khao San Road changes

[Thian]

On 8/12/2018 at 8:56 AM, moontang said:

speaking of the changing tastes of Thai youth..have you noticed how many can't eat spicy nowadays?  Shocking.  Seems to go along with the local obesity explosion.

My wife also can't eat so spicy, just like me...phet dek dek krab...

[SABloke]

On 8/7/2018 at 8:48 AM, Snow Leopard said:

Who is going to go to a place with 100's of police roaming around like in the picture to enforce the law. Maybe someone could explain to me what they are trying to achieve here? This only really hurts Thai's who are working there in my opinion and is a massive OG. Military Govt, Boy Scouts everywhere. Noooooo Thanks. 

Well, the law says that no vendors are allowed on a public road, so once (sometimes twice) a day, the police leave the station at the top of Khao San and walk slowly down the middle of the road. Vendors ahead quickly pull their racks back in their shops and as soon as the police pass they push hem out again. It's a bit like the parting of the red sea and quite an amusing spectacle to observe.

 

Now, the problem could have been solved by making Khao Sam a pedestrian only street...

[sweeneythailand]

On 8/7/2018 at 8:03 AM, Lungstib said:

Seems like streets full of cars is fine but streets full of people need banning. Weird.

take control of the people  kill resistance  take the  power over the people

[HAKAPALITA]

take control of the people  kill resistance  take the  power over the people

No need, just remove Lefty Teachers who encourage Yobs.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[newatthis]

19 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

Ultimately, IMHO it's more important that Thailand and Kao San road be what Thai people want it to be?

Yes, it's not our Thailand nor our KSR; it belongs to the Thais. End of the argument. Whatever they decide, let's go with the flow.

[5633572526]

On 8/11/2018 at 9:57 PM, geriatrickid said:

Hello, the 1970's called to say that it is now 2018 and time moved on, so should you.  You are breathing the foul fumes of a distant past. Today's Thais who are moving the nation forward neither need nor desire to have this filthy backward place. You argue for a farang ghetto where the debauched and hedonistic desires  of cheap low quality  visitors will be sated.  The country doesn't need them and they bring nothing of value with them.  Adapt to the changes or be left behind with the other farangs who still can't grasp the fact that Thailand isn't the impoverished country they knew 25+ years ago.

Hello this is reality Today’s Thailand makes 22 percent of its gdp from tourists and all those vendors are trying to feed their families. If you don’t like it there don’t go but it is packed every night with tourists pumping money into the Thai economy and the country does need them but probably doesn’t need you.

[newatthis]

23 minutes ago, 5633572526 said:

Hello this is reality Today’s Thailand makes 22 percent of its gdp from tourists and all those vendors are trying to feed their families. If you don’t like it there don’t go but it is packed every night with tourists pumping money into the Thai economy and the country does need them but probably doesn’t need you.

So allowing these vendors to open their stalls from 5pm to 2am only and making sure everything was left spotless would be a good compromise then?

[utalkin2me]

12 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

You're missing the point - Khaosan for the most part is a place people spend not much more than two or three days in. It's a springboard for ongoing travel, pretty much like it was depicted in The Beach movie, a place where you hung out waiting for your train tickets to arrive. Remember that hanging out with other young people from cultures all over the world is a formative experience, and much of what they're sitting talking about is their travel experiences and plans. I may not be young now but I can remember what it was like.

 

Learning to speak a new language is certainly part of really getting into the culture, but this takes years, no one is going to have much success doing it in a country they've just arrived in. Besides, Bangkok is an embarkation point not just for Thailand but the whole of Asia, many of the backpackers plan to travel to half a dozen countries, so what would be the point of a deep study of the language? Khaosan is a very small part of my past 22 years living in a few different countries in Asia, and several neighbourhoods in Bangkok, but I wouldn't look down on it. Travellers need places like that when they're hitting a new and unfamiliar place for the first time. 

I think you are missing the point. I totally understood your point. 

 

The entire point of traveling as far as I am concerned is to get away from people and things you may otherwise always be around (ie English speaking, vegan backpackers). 

 

The entire country can be a springboard.

 

Travelers do not need places like that. If they did, the first foreginers would not have even been able to visit Thailand. Traveling is about putting yourself in situations that you are wholly unaware of and don't understand. I can't think of any better advice than "skip ksr" to be given to a traveler, because what exactly would he be missing?... He is going to run into plenty of vegan backpackers along his way, he doesn't need ksr for that.

 

You are ignoring what ksr actually is: it is the Cancun of Asia... the place where people go to party and get laid and then do some cheesy excursions and act like that is the reason they came there. 

 

People no doubt can have a great time in a city say like las vegas. Just dont tell me you went there for culture and travel. 

 

We just disagree on what makes a good traveling experience is all. 

Edited August 15, 2018 by utalkin2me

[lambchops]

6 hours ago, SABloke said:

 

Now, the problem could have been solved by making Khao Sam a pedestrian only street...

Should have happened years ago.Was there in 2017 during the day & it was a nightmare walking around.

Been through there 1991 1994 1996 & last year. All the previous years you could get a single car down the entire length, very slowly in the later years.

[The manic]

On 8/13/2018 at 7:34 PM, JennaBurrows said:

 

Utter nonsense you are on full scale trolling mode now. 

 

Lower Sukhumvit is one of thee most popular areas for tourists to stay in Bangkok. It's houses some of the most expensive real estate in Bangkok, so your theory it's a shit hole is a tad lost. It's an area with the most concentration of hotels, and appartments in most of Bangkok. Sky Train access, Terminal 21 Mall, international concentration of restaurants. Aside from the two sex areas it also houses some great bars and clubs. 

 

The area has been destroyed, especially late night by removing the street vendors, street food and culture from the area. And when i say DESTROY i mean DESTORYED. The area was beeming with life well into the evening, enjoying a vibrant atmosphere, street food. 

 

As for your disparaging remarks regarding the sex industry in low Sukhumvit, whilst i do not condone it, i've seen it everywhere from Tokyo, Las Vegas, Paris, London, legalised brothels in Germany and Holland, etc - trust me Bangkok only appears sinful to those who haven't travelled the world. 

 

And Asian sex tourists prefer order? Don't talk stupid. You spoke to each individual one have you? Measured the sex tourism in Bangkok to Pattaya to Tokyo to London ? 

 

Well said. Your insight is welcome. 

[Tailwagsdog]

On 8/7/2018 at 11:11 AM, Thian said:

So now the Indian tailors have nobody to harass on the sidewalks? And the poor tribal lady with the frog who always harassed me while eating in a restaurant is also gone? Oh i will miss them so much.

 

And all those fake Nike slippers which break in 2 days and become waste, the tourists still miss those? 

 

They should open a nice market close to kao sarn and real shops in the fronts, taxi's on the street waiting...i don't see the problem.

Perhaps you should move to singapore its clean & orderly

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, Tailwagsdog said:

Perhaps you should move to singapore its clean & orderly

No need to , Bangkok is also becoming clean & orderly

[The manic]

On 8/7/2018 at 3:13 AM, Thian said:

Do you think it was good for the image of BKK and Thailand that the whole world knew that on kao sarn road you can buy fake id's, presscards, university degree's, and probably everything else fake...It was just open on the corner of the street for loads of years...

Non of the fake documents were useable in any context. They were of no use at all.

[The manic]

4 minutes ago, sanemax said:

No need to , Bangkok is also becoming clean & orderly

Empty, sterile and souless.....and poverty stricken unlike the dreadful Singapore.  The desire for order is inherently fascist unless supported by the will of the people with the right to vote for a government. The streets of a city should not be like a military base. What is happening to Bangkok is disgusting. I and many others have moved out. The Thais leave their capital on a regular basis to visit Pattaya every weekend because it is the only international, cosmopolitan city left in Thailand. Life and creativity equal a degree of disorder. Nobody but a few bitter Farang support the changes to Bangkok. But people are too frightened to speak out. Their fear is justified.

[sanemax]

2 minutes ago, The manic said:

Empty, sterile and souless.....and poverty stricken unlike the dreadful Singapore.  The desire for order is inherently fascist unless supported by the will of the people with the right to vote for a government. The streets of a city should not be like a military base. What is happening to Bangkok is disgusting. I and many others have moved out. The Thais leave their capital on a regular basis to visit Pattaya every weekend because it is the only international, cosmopolitan city left in Thailand. Life and creativity equal a degree of disorder. Nobody but a few bitter Farang support the changes to Bangkok. But people are too frightened to speak out. Their fear is justified.

Thais have continually shown that they cannot accept the democratic process.

If their side loses an election , they protest and bring the Country to a standstill.

   Dictatorship is the only thing that can govern Thailand , reds & yellows failed

[Nyezhov]

51 minutes ago, sanemax said:

No need to , Bangkok is also becoming clean & orderly

And still fun. They are just cleaning up the Falang Ghetto.

 

Their country their rules.

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, The manic said:

Empty, sterile and souless.....and poverty stricken unlike the dreadful Singapore.  The desire for order is inherently fascist unless supported by the will of the people with the right to vote for a government. The streets of a city should not be like a military base. What is happening to Bangkok is disgusting. I and many others have moved out. The Thais leave their capital on a regular basis to visit Pattaya every weekend because it is the only international, cosmopolitan city left in Thailand. Life and creativity equal a degree of disorder. Nobody but a few bitter Farang support the changes to Bangkok. But people are too frightened to speak out. Their fear is justified.

Have you taken lots of illegal drugs in your life ?

[sanemax]

KSR is nothing to do with Thailand or Thai culture .

Its Western hedonistic youngsters is what KSR is all about .

Its the Ibiza 24 hour party people drink , smoke, sniff , inhale , inject and anything else they can to reach oblivion .

   Thais only go there to see this spectacle .

KSR  is Western hedonism and its nothing to do with Thailand .

KSR is a warm-up for the full moon party

[The manic]

1 hour ago, sanemax said:

Have you taken lots of illegal drugs in your life ?

Not for 30 years but thank God I did. People who eschewed drugs are usually small minded tedious bores with no sense of wonder.  Often hate filled , judgemental, low IQ, poor education...basically sheep that bite. Most would benefit from an LSD trip and E therapy.  Drugs are a phase most adventurous,  intelligent go through before they give up.  Having gone through the doors of perception the exit better, wiser more humane people.

[lamyai3]

12 hours ago, utalkin2me said:

I think you are missing the point. I totally understood your point. 

 

The entire point of traveling as far as I am concerned is to get away from people and things you may otherwise always be around (ie English speaking, vegan backpackers). 

 

The entire country can be a springboard.

Sorry, I don't think you do understand my point. Planning more adventurous travel is what most people in Khaosan are actually doing. It's a place of regrouping and deciding, often quite spontaneously on where to go next. I don't think anyone is convincing themselves that KSR is an end in itself, it's more of a pitstop between destinations with a few home comforts thrown in. Traveller ghettos like this have always existed in many cities around the world, as a local response to the needs of many people passing through. I never found such places to be dominated by vegan backpackers, but instead a wide variety of people, some very likeable, some not so much. The fact that there's a KFC, McDonald's and a Burger King in close proximity there, along with the kebab vans, fried chicken and more moo ping than you can shake a skewer at would surely keep the vegans at bay in any case.

 

Your ideas of what travel is supposed to be about are patronising - why not let young people decide what they like for themselves? Yes, the point of travelling is to get away from the things they may normally be around, but this translates more than anything to not being around the trappings, responsibilities and people of their home culture. In any event, there are no original travel experiences any more, everything that's there to be done has been done, written about, photographed, vlogged, and youtubed. Pretending to be somehow original and pioneering in the modern era is kind of ridiculous. 

[lamyai3]

10 hours ago, lambchops said:

Should have happened years ago.Was there in 2017 during the day & it was a nightmare walking around.

Been through there 1991 1994 1996 & last year. All the previous years you could get a single car down the entire length, very slowly in the later years.

Why go there at all if not for the vendors? There's nothing much of interest in the street otherwise, it's off the beaten track and it's not a major thoroughfare to anywhere. 

[lamyai3]

5 hours ago, The manic said:

Non of the fake documents were useable in any context. They were of no use at all.

The international student ID card used to be quite useful at times. 

[lamyai3]

5 hours ago, sanemax said:

No need to , Bangkok is also becoming clean & orderly

Not for long. The city's natural preference for chaos and disorder will soon prevail again. 

[utalkin2me]

1 hour ago, lamyai3 said:

Sorry, I don't think you do understand my point. Planning more adventurous travel is what most people in Khaosan are actually doing. It's a place of regrouping and deciding, often quite spontaneously on where to go next. I don't think anyone is convincing themselves that KSR is an end in itself, it's more of a pitstop between destinations with a few home comforts thrown in. Traveller ghettos like this have always existed in many cities around the world, as a local response to the needs of many people passing through. I never found such places to be dominated by vegan backpackers, but instead a wide variety of people, some very likeable, some not so much. The fact that there's a KFC, McDonald's and a Burger King in close proximity there, along with the kebab vans, fried chicken and more moo ping than you can shake a skewer at would surely keep the vegans at bay in any case.

 

Your ideas of what travel is supposed to be about are patronising - why not let young people decide what they like for themselves? Yes, the point of travelling is to get away from the things they may normally be around, but this translates more than anything to not being around the trappings, responsibilities and people of their home culture. In any event, there are no original travel experiences any more, everything that's there to be done has been done, written about, photographed, vlogged, and youtubed. Pretending to be somehow original and pioneering in the modern era is kind of ridiculous. 

WHat you are describing is any hotel room bro. Any hotel room is a base and a place to regroup. Your point is not hard to understand, but is flawed is the problem. 

 

You like ksr, I don't. 

You seem to think it is a must location for foreigners to visit and stay, i don't. I would advise people to stay away actually. 

 

You brought up the movie "the beach" for example. Even in that movie they made fun of ksr by showing a bunch of "travelers" sitting around a tv in the saftey of their ksr hostel and watching an american movie. And they hit the nail right on the head with that. 

 

There are original travel experiences, but we aren't even talking about that. Ksr is so far from an authentic Thai area i do not even think it could get much worse. You could literally imerse yourself in Thai culture better at the airport. It is the worst place you can possibly go in Thailand in my opinion. Maybe 20 years ago it was a cool, hip location. I have been there, and it aint that anymore. But if you think it is that is great (but it isn't).

 

[lamyai3]

21 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

There are original travel experiences, but we aren't even talking about that. Ksr is so far from an authentic Thai area i do not even think it could get much worse. You could literally imerse yourself in Thai culture better at the airport. It is the worst place you can possibly go in Thailand in my opinion. Maybe 20 years ago it was a cool, hip location. I have been there, and it aint that anymore. But if you think it is that is great (but it isn't).

Well, to be fair my experiences of KSR were generally in the 90s, though I was back there fairly recently. It served as a good place to relax after several months hard travel around India for instance. I don't know how many parts of town you can point to that would provide a suitable alternative to the area with such cheap accommodation (I was never a fan of dorms myself) and traveller infrastructure. None of the districts around Bangkok have any real claim on being authentically Thai, especially the more gentrified they become... it's a bit like asking which part of London is most typically English. 

 

I should make it clear when I say Khaosan Road I mean Banglamphu generally, KSR is the central street there but it's always been used to refer to both the street itself and it's nearby surroundings (pretty much all of which are more pleasant). 

I personally used to prefer to stay in the small soi nearby at the back of the temple, quite a charming area with lots of trees and a quiet local feel. This wider area is interesting, and does have a Thai feel to it... lots of old Chinese shophouses and original architecture. The same is true of Phra Arthit Road, some great little cafes and lively music bars there popular with both the tourists and the university students from Thammasat. The river is two minutes walk away, the whole area shows off a more interesting side of Bangkok than any number of stops on the Sukhumvit line for a newcomer. 

[Thian]

2 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

Why go there at all if not for the vendors? There's nothing much of interest in the street otherwise, it's off the beaten track and it's not a major thoroughfare to anywhere. 

The most interesting thing on KSR is the bars/restaurants with nice terraces which is unique to BKK.

 

Next is the cheap accomodation for the backpackers.

 

Also there's all kinds of food for sale, KFC plus MacD plus BK all close together is unique as well except for a mall.

 

I think KSR is still the place for travelling to the islands by coach or up north. When the new mega raiwaystation is finished it should move to the Chatuchak area so it's easy to catch the train from there.

[Nyezhov]

1 hour ago, lamyai3 said:

The river is two minutes walk away, the whole area shows off a more interesting side of Bangkok than any number of stops on the Sukhumvit line for a newcomer. 

Lower Suk First place I ever rolled too 555555

[The manic]

7 hours ago, sanemax said:

KSR is nothing to do with Thailand or Thai culture .

Its Western hedonistic youngsters is what KSR is all about .

Its the Ibiza 24 hour party people drink , smoke, sniff , inhale , inject and anything else they can to reach oblivion .

   Thais only go there to see this spectacle .

KSR  is Western hedonism and its nothing to do with Thailand .

KSR is a warm-up for the full moon party

It's a transient space for travellers  between trips around Thailand and other parts of SE Asia. It also has excellent shopping for some designs unavailable in the rest of Bangkok such as Banksie T Shirts.  There are a few jazz clubs around too.

[lamyai3]

34 minutes ago, The manic said:

It's a transient space for travellers  between trips around Thailand and other parts of SE Asia. It also has excellent shopping for some designs unavailable in the rest of Bangkok such as Banksie T Shirts.  There are a few jazz clubs around too.

Yes, Brown Sugar moved just around the corner, plus there's places near the river where the students practice their chops. They always had cool t-shirts down there, such as a Big Lebowski shirt (a few months after the film came out) that couldn't be found anywhere else at the time. I didn't find my clothing down there fell apart at all, actually have had more problem with shoddy goods that I've picked up in malls. 

[The manic]

10 hours ago, sanemax said:

Thais have continually shown that they cannot accept the democratic process.

If their side loses an election , they protest and bring the Country to a standstill.

   Dictatorship is the only thing that can govern Thailand , reds & yellows failed

Patronising rubbish. 26 million people voted for a party that would favour their interests.  A tiny corrupt elite orchestrated a campaign to destabilise the elected goverment to pave the way for the military to brutally take over. If military coups were the solution one would suffice.  In the 70s the democracy protesters were hung from lamppost and burnt alive. Democracy may not be perfect but it allows corrupt useless bullies to be replaced. It's the best system we got however imperfect it is. And the Thais deserve it.