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

[lamyai3]

2 hours ago, Thian said:

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.

Yes, don't really see how it can change. The other very old backpacker area around the Malaysia Hotel became a predominantly gay district many moons ago and has a run down feel to it. KSR has benefitted from some quite artistic upgrades including the terraced bars you mention and the repaving/ pedestrianisation of Soi Chanasongkhram around the temple which feels almost like Chiang Mai. I think the rules on vendors will be relaxed again (as they are being already to some extent) and it'll be back to playing cat and mouse with the authorities. 

[5633572526]

22 hours ago, newatthis said:

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?

I would be all for the government meeting with those vendors and between them agreeing on times to be open but suspect the clothing and souvenir vendors do better business during the day and the food vendors do best business at night.

I am always for enforcing cleanliness, on the streets on the beaches everywhere.

there is nothing nostalgic or scenic about garbage.

[The manic]

Soi Nam Dupli was finished by 1991 when it became a cheap junkie haunt.  No energy. It was superseded by The KSR. It may well be a gay ghetto now.  Havent been there since 91. No reason to. A dead zone. Np youth, no money, no energy.

[The manic]

14 minutes ago, 5633572526 said:

I would be all for the government meeting with those vendors and between them agreeing on times to be open but suspect the clothing and souvenir vendors do better business during the day and the food vendors do best business at night.

I am always for enforcing cleanliness, on the streets on the beaches everywhere.

there is nothing nostalgic or scenic about garbage.

Treating people like garbage is the problem.

[JordanKonal]

The envelopes from the big business are a lot bigger than the envelopes from the vendors. Envelopes are all the matter when you don't have to answer to democracy.

 

The irony being most tourists want to enjoy the vendors and street markets. 

[Rhys]

Let me guess a Ph.D came up with this one... Pretty High but Deeper

[pattayadgw]

You will do what i say or else!!  

[The manic]

On 8/7/2018 at 2:13 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...

Nobody cared. It was just a gimmick.

[madusa]

Well, only in Thailand, it happens all over Asia,  Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong.....

They want to be modern. You understand? Big guys with money will buy up properties and develop. Develop is the key word in their business.

You backpackers and cheap tourists are not good enough for their business. You were never in their mind.

[metisdead]

Off topic trolling posts have been removed. 

[hobz]

On 8/7/2018 at 7:54 AM, Thaiwrath said:

Should start with Sukhumvit Soi 3 !

Actually they should start with order on the roads in general. 20k plus dead ppl. 1 million plus injured. Every year.

[Cake Monster]

On 8/7/2018 at 8:12 AM, darksidedog said:

Further proof that stupid people always find a way to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Tourists dont go there for a sanitised environment and clearly won't go at all if this idiocy continues.

Patts next ?

[Hoppyone]

On 8/7/2018 at 8:00 AM, colinneil said:

Just another brain dead idea by brain dead people.

The brain dead bar stewards are slowly destroying Bangkok with these stupid schemes, what they fail to realise is tourists love what Kao san road was like before they tried to sterilize it.

Welcome to Bangkok the city where the only thing you will experience is nothing but empty streets.

And traffic jams 

[Nyezhov]

Dunno, things were hopping tonight despite the rain....

[Ctkong]

On 8/7/2018 at 3:24 PM, NoMeAmes said:

why only the foreign hookers? What about the local hookers? 

They add color to the local culture ....

[metisdead]

An obscene troll post and a reply has been removed. 

[Fex Bluse]

The problem with cleaning up Bangkok is that Thailand, unlike many other countries, like Singapore, has little to offer other than chaos and food and sex. 

 

The cities are not nice, not convenient or well designed, there are no well done cultural events, there are zero intellectual events, you cannot walk the roads because they are rubbish, ect ect ect. 

 

They don't know how to build and run and maintain civilized cities or tourists areas here, so if you take away the stuff that they do well - chaos, disorganization, spaghetti powerlines, broken rubbish roads, street food, prostitution - there is little reason left to visit the country. 

[metisdead]

Some troll posts and the trolling replies have been removed. 

[whitemouse]

On 10/8/2018 at 6:30 PM, Fex Bluse said:

The problem with cleaning up Bangkok is that Thailand, unlike many other countries, like Singapore, has little to offer other than chaos and food and sex. 

 

The cities are not nice, not convenient or well designed..

 

Exactly! 

The cleaning up results in boring street scene, same narrow pot holes sidewalks, but without food carts, and vendors of various thingies there is no reason to walk these streets.

 

The clean out effort around Siam Square in Bangkok just killed the neighborhood, what used to be cool place is now deserted, no  reason to go and wonder around there. 

At this rate of "cleaning the sidewalks" there will be nothing left of Bangkok but malls, everything that gave city a character will be gone.

I really hope city planning and management finds a new hobby, what they're doing now is actively destroying what's good about Bangkok.

Same in Pattaya, Beach Rd is pretty much cleared of food carts, and for what? It is now just another dirty, boring street, because city does not do actual cleaning of streets, streets are covered with garbage. 

[whitemouse]

On 8/13/2018 at 10:11 PM, JennaBurrows said:

 

The irony being i don't believe they are doing it deliberately. I just believe those in power at the moment are taking their queues from the military. And i don't believe the military have any iota of understand of what tourism from Europe or China want in Thailand - infact they probably look at their own chaotic, often dirty cities and wonder why on earth any tourist would come there. 

 

 

I think you nailed, the current "cleaning up BKK" is not deliberate sabotage, but that's what it in fact is.

 

Government has no clue what a rare pearl they had in Bangkok, one of the coolest cities, ironically thanks to almost no city planning, and almost no money out into attracting tourist. Cool Bangkok simply happened, coincidence of many small factors, but the trick that made it cool - just enough law and order to be safe any time of day and night, just enough law to allow natural growth of what Thai do well, street trade and street food. Just enough chaos, yet controlled enough not to become Johannesburg. 

Bangkok's coolness was really by accident, lack city planning and general stupidity of city bureocrats worked in Bangkok's favour. This is something that's impossible to replicate, no amount of money can dublicate Bangkok in some other country.

But generals did not know, because they don't know anything. I imagine some top brass guy traveled to Singapore, he was impressed, and he thought why not make Bangkok more like Singapore, obviously not realising that is the last thing Bangkok needs. Brass never knew how cool of a city he already had, without even making an effort, with almost no planning, and very little money thrown in. But he went ahead with his "brilliant" plan to Singapourize Bangkok.

 

As you said, people who run this place haven't got a first clue what makes Bangkok unique, and why it attracts Westerners, without spending any money on promotion. For example, India is spending massive amounts on advertising, desperate to attract Westerners,  Bangkok never had to. 

And now in their "wisdom" they sabotaging this place, with best intentions, blissfully unaware. Like a child, wishing to dry a cat in a microwave, child means we'll, cat dies. But child has an excuse - being a child. These people are adults, presumably educated. Their idea of nice city is clean streets and tall glass buildings. They don't seem to realize world already has Singapore, Thailand will never be able to outsingapour the real thing. But what they can do, and are actively doing is destroying a wonderful, unique city.

It's a sad thing to witness. 

[balo]

I went to Siem Reap in Cambodia not so long time ago , and plenty of backpackers there , I would think more of them than in all of Bangkok.   

In SR you have busy night markets with locally produced art and souvenirs. Lots of local shops , no Starbucks or McD to be seen . So this is what tourists and first time travelers want to see , something local and unique for the area.   

Of course plenty of rip-offs too , but thats just part of the charm  .  The local Cambodians still have that genuine smile. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The manic]

On 10/8/2018 at 12:30 PM, Fex Bluse said:

The problem with cleaning up Bangkok is that Thailand, unlike many other countries, like Singapore, has little to offer other than chaos and food and sex. 

 

The cities are not nice, not convenient or well designed, there are no well done cultural events, there are zero intellectual events, you cannot walk the roads because they are rubbish, ect ect ect. 

 

They don't know how to build and run and maintain civilized cities or tourists areas here, so if you take away the stuff that they do well - chaos, disorganization, spaghetti powerlines, broken rubbish roads, street food, prostitution - there is little reason left to visit the country. 

Thailand has the greatest most amazing cultural events in the world. Do a bit of research. 

[Fex Bluse]

1 hour ago, The manic said:

Thailand has the greatest most amazing cultural events in the world. Do a bit of research. 

No, I disagree, and no. 

 

[roo860]

Thailand has the greatest most amazing cultural events in the world. Do a bit of research. 

Which are?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[whitemouse]

2 hours ago, balo said:

I went to Siem Reap in Cambodia not so long time ago , and plenty of backpackers there , I would think more of them than in all of Bangkok.   

In SR you have busy night markets with locally produced art and souvenirs. Lots of local shops , no Starbucks or McD to be seen . So this is what tourists and first time travelers want to see , something local and unique for the area.   

Of course plenty of rip-offs too , but thats just part of the charm  .  The local Cambodians still have that genuine smile. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, I can also attest to that, Siem Reap has become Kha San light, for better or worse - a party town full of young packbackers. I go there once a year for small getaway, cheap beer, friendly Khmers, bad food and wonderful pharmacies. Siem Reap, for tiny town that it is, has become everything Bangkok used to be until about 2008. 

 

I wouldn't stay in Siem Reap for more than 1 week, as do the packbackers from all over the world, lots of happy go lucky  French 20 somethings.  We always mix and talk in bars, hostels, and funny thing - most are coming or heading to Vietnam, not many of the young travellers mention Thailand at all, in past couple of years. I take it as things to come, Vietnam is rapidly gaining traction, Thailand is being about to be forgotten for under 30 crowd. And so is rest of Cambodia, young travellers have several weeks to explore SE Asia, and other than Siem Reap (, Angkor, really) they have nothing good to say about rest of Cambodia. But they are ecstatic about Vietnam, this is fairly new!

I see same packbackers in Sianoukville, they drag their very largel, inhumanly large backpacks to 1 day island trip, if you talk to them in a hostel after they have returned, they look half dead from 5am wake up, in order to make it to the boat, then fun begins,

 

apparently while on the island they walk in bushes, up hill, with their bags on their back that contain  all their earthly belongings  for their SE Asia adventure,  they then spend  $1 to $3 for  small water bottles, probably quite a few bottles, mid day sun in Sianoukville is sucking life out  of even the fittest, healthiest  20 year olds, and the boat back.

 

For that pleasure they pay $25-$35 each to a group guide. Guides live in Sianoukville, and they live well. Of these poor island hoppers, the ones who find courage to be honest use heavy curse words, if you ask about the day on the island. They make it back to hotels late afternoon.

This french girl in my floor who I befriended left at 5am, got back at 4pm, just about when I was waking up, and heading for a shower. Poor girl was beat, her exact words - I wish I was you, and slept all day. Anyways, that's Sianoukville, it's now ruined by Chinese casinos, beach bars thorn down to make space for Chinese condos. Cadinos are built with money from China, casino customers are strictly Chinese, and I imagine casino profits go to China. I do not see Sianoukville infrastructure being fixed, it's in fact worse than 10 years ago.

 

But Siem Reap is the real thing, free flow, everything goes atmosphere, young people not harassed by cops, town is safe any time of night,, noonder people keep returning.

 

This is what Thailand should be, this is what Bangkok should be, these are the people Thailand should want  to drop by, and stay. Kao San Rd was that. Other areas of Bangkok still are. But for how long? It's dying, and it is not being replaced by anything and anybody. 

 

I, myself used to spend most of my 7 months winter Snowbird time in Bangkok, not any more, it's Pattaya for me now. And what I observe in Pattaya every day is discouraging. There is almost no reason for twice a month trips to Bangkok, what's the point of wondering on Silom at 11pm? Count the rats? What's the point going to lower Sul, If I chose to not participate in adult entertainment? There is nothing there!

 

Vietnam seems be to be on rise, every youngster, every adult  coming back from Viet is impressed and excited. Do maybe give it a try, I been resisting so far, out of pure laziness. But Thailand becoming so boring, so "clean" makes Vietnam something to investigate.

 

I swear, if south of Spain, Costa del Sol, Malaga area (warmest region in all of Spain in winter months) wasn't 5C at night time, I would forget all about Thailand, and SE Asia. Unfortunately it is cold, so is Portugal. 

Why why why are  Thai authorities determined to ruin a near  perfect place? 

[whitemouse]

1 hour ago, The manic said:

Thailand has the greatest most amazing cultural events in the world. Do a bit of research. 

What are those events, and how do they affect your everyday life here? I'm talking about spending a typical day of retired guy, just wondering about, say, 10 hours out of the house, daily? 

 

Does some concert, or yearly Pattaya International Boat Show change your day in any way? Oh yeah, Prodigy tour had dates in Bangkok few years back, is that it?

[samsensam]

1 hour ago, The manic said:

Thailand has the greatest most amazing cultural events in the world. Do a bit of research. 

 

i'd like to hear your examples of 'the greatest most amazing cultural events in the world'...

 

possibly you are a little travelled individual.

[whitemouse]

1 hour ago, The manic said:

Thailand has the greatest most amazing cultural events in the world. Do a bit of research. 

Pleas point me to right direction, what are those amazing cultural events in Thailand? And even if next soccer World Cup was to be held in Bangkok, how would this change the dead streets right downtown, previously bustling streets, now turned into parking lots.

 

Balo is right, tiny Siem Reap has more pulse, more life than downtown Bangkok.

[Sumarianson]

Get rid of street traders, get rid of prostitution, then we can properly see the tumbleweed and further impoverished violent nation. Welcome to the Wild East.

[balo]

9 hours ago, whitemouse said:

Vietnam seems be to be on rise, every youngster, every adult  coming back from Viet is impressed and excited. Do maybe give it a try, I been resisting so far, out of pure laziness. But Thailand becoming so boring, so "clean" makes Vietnam something to investigate.

I have only been to Hanoi, Northern VIetnam and I went winter time , and to my surprise it's very cold up north , with temperatures down to 10 degrees C, and windy.   Anyway night life close early in Hanoi and it didn't really feel like a lively city after midnight.  

 

But the food is amazing , and plenty of restaurants and bars, museums to explore. I saw plenty of backpackers there too , but not same as in SR.  

 

I think most backpackers prefer Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) , its a real party town from what I've heard.