6 hours ago, stanleycoin said:

Oh no.

Please keep Khao san road the same as its' always been.

At least we know where not to go, 

and it keeps all the cheap arse smelly Trash Packers in one place. 

 

Long live Khao San Road.  

 

Well, that raises a valid point. If you don't like the backpackers, no need to go there, ever. It's difficult to get to, not on the bts or mrt, and not even on the way to anywhere. All these people on their soapbox wanting to ban street vendors down there might well be kicking themselves sometime down the line, as they see more backpackers showing up in their own neighbourhoods, looking for more interesting places to stay, eat and hang out. One thing's certain, they'll still be coming through bangkok, due to the fact that it's one of the cheapest places to fly to in the region. So be careful what you wish for, folks. 

5 hours ago, Thian said:

Who wants to eat from those filthy streetcarts when there's a great clean foodcourt in every mall like in singapore?

The majority of the customer base is, and always was the local population. 

4 hours ago, cmsally said:

I rather think that the effort is to push everyone into the malls. For example this is set up/marketed/organised to be just like street food. Of course it is not and (I will try anything once), has to be the most depressing batches of "street food" I have ever eaten.

Central Embassy "Street Food"

 

If anyone actually knows the economics behind it , it would interesting to see. For example are they hired staff or renting space etc etc

I ate there once, depressing, soulless and sterile, not to mention expensive. Luckily there's better options on the upper floors. 

6 hours ago, Thian said:

Who wants to eat from those filthy streetcarts when there's a great clean foodcourt in every mall like in singapore? 

SG hawker centers are nice, TH mall food courts not. In TH malls there's no atmosphere at all, fighting nail and tooth for a seat (the tissue paper trick used in SG will not work), strange topup card schemes, etc. I do agree the food carts are the worst of the lot.

 

A good example of how Thais could arrange it to be interesting is the Thepprasit night market in Pattaya. Very nice to walk in there and browse for take away food. Have to give credit for getting something right.

20 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

I ate there once, depressing, soulless and sterile, not to mention expensive. Luckily there's better options on the upper floors. 

Glad it wasn't just me!

We will all be living in a giant air conditioned mall soon . That will be sprayed down with disinfectant every hour on the hour .

 

I can't see any justification for criticising Khao San, as it is not a place one has to go to.  Clearly it appeals to back packers, who have as much right to be in Thailand as any other tourist.

9 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

SG hawker centers are nice, TH mall food courts not. In TH malls there's no atmosphere at all, fighting nail and tooth for a seat (the tissue paper trick used in SG will not work), strange topup card schemes, etc. I do agree the food carts are the worst of the lot.

 

A good example of how Thais could arrange it to be interesting is the Thepprasit night market in Pattaya. Very nice to walk in there and browse for take away food. Have to give credit for getting something right.

Thai foodcourts only have very cheap food, i would rather pay 2-300 baht if i get decent food like in singapore with real meat and vegy...

 

And streetfood can also be good but i want to see a clean cart, clean towell, real water for dishwashing, clean tables and so on....

 

In the kao san road area we like to sit in that park at the river (next to that white fort) and buy roti from a shop oppose that park, it's a famous old roti shop and it's great to eat in that park. But last time we were there i counted 6!! policemen who were guarding that small park, they even had their own booth in the middle. It must be dangerous in that park i guess.

12 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

When shooting at the foot make sure the long bit with a hole in it is not pointing at the face?