Khao San: After the hype comes the reality - once "billion baht" street" deserted in the daytime

[webfact]

Khao San: After the hype comes the reality - once "billion baht" street" deserted in the daytime

 

Picture: Daily News

 

Despite measures to stimulate tourism in Bangkok's famed district of Khao San Road the area is still suffering enormously, reported Daily News. 

 

The government and BMA are being urged to do more to help - including extending nighttime opening to 1 am.

 

Before the pandemic Khao San used to generate revenue of a staggering one billion baht a year.

 

Not now - it is a shadow of its former self. 

 

There was great hype in October when Daily News said PM Prayuth Chan-ocha turned up to promote "Sawatdee Khao San" as traders in the area looked forward to a brighter future post pandemic.

 

 

Picture: Daily News

 

Obviously the area needed to rebrand itself for the Thai only market as its previous main customer base - foreign tourists - were all gone.

 

While it is true that Thais have been supporting the nightlife scene on the street even that is not back to what it was before. 

 

But according to the head of the Khao San traders' association Sanga Reuangwattanakun, the real problem is the complete lack of people during the day. Before 5pm the street is empty.

 

Before there used to be foreign tourists going to the many massage places, buying trinkets and souvenirs and shopping at the other street stalls. But this was driven by 99% of the customers being foreigners, said Sanga.

 

The street that once bustled 24/7 is now just hanging on because of its nighttime presence. Most hotels are shut. 

 

Sanga said that traders were too slow to adjust to the new market conditions. Some recognised they had to change their business model but did not have the financial wherewithal to do so after being hit hard by the pandemic. 

 

Picture: Daily News

 

Now the government and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration are being called on to do more than a photo opportunity. 

 

Move sustainable moves to help the street get through difficult times are needed and a "Go to Khao San 2435" project has been launched. 

 

Among these are attempts to rebrand the area so that it will appeal to a more domestic market with things like street art events in the daytime and light shows.

 

Traders also want to see regular events at the end of the week to spur tourism and even an extension of opening hours at night to 1 am which they believe will generate more income.

 

Source: Daily News

 

 

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[ezzra]

Even today's 'billion baht' not what they used to be before, but as the world turns, so are the fortunes of many places and i'm sure that Khao san Rd. will once again will go back to its former glory...

[Pottinger]

Well, cry me a river; many traders made huge profits in such tourist spots around Thailand during the good times, which extended for years. If they did not have the foresight to save and plan for the future then my sympathy only extends to those at the bottom of the food chain, who never had the chance to establish themselves.

[mr mr]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

including extending nighttime opening to 1 am.

 

for what ? 

 

does the headline not state that the place is deserted at night. that's a clear signal to open longer. 

 

sawatdee kap.

[sweatalot]

56 minutes ago, webfact said:

was driven by 99% of the customers being foreigners,

exactly - without the foreigners -even backpackers - Thailand's  future will be dark

How many backpackers is the worth of a "quality tourist" ?

I doubt there will ever be enough quality tourists the way TAT is dreaming of.

 

btw. The word "quality tourist" is an assault created by greedy people taxing other people only by the amount of money they can press out of them

[tonray]

6 minutes ago, sweatalot said:

exactly - without the foreigners -even backpackers - Thailand's  future will be dark

Perhaps Khao San Rd and the tourist Walking Streets...but there is significant activity out side of those areas that does not require tourism

[Laza 45]

59 minutes ago, mr mr said:

 

for what ? 

 

does the headline not state that the place is deserted at night. that's a clear signal to open longer. 

 

sawatdee kap.

Read what it says..'While it is true that Thais have been supporting the nightlife scene on the street even that is not back to what it was before. '.. 

[anterian]

Once a district gets gentrified there is no going back. 

[ThailandRyan]

Weekday evenings and nights are very devoid also of people.  The restaurant's are struggling.  Friday evenings, Saturday Evenings and even Sundays see an influx of people.  We try to hit the Area on Saturday nights around 9 pm, and stay until 12am.  All of the entertainment venues in Bangkok are hurting for business.  Amazing how the tourism sector has taken such a massive hit and yet the Government is not even trying to help out.  The Lumpini Aetas and it's sister hotels are still closed.  All of those people have been out of work for the past 9 months.  The Khao San road vendors have also come and gone. 

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, mr mr said:

 

for what ? 

 

does the headline not state that the place is deserted at night. that's a clear signal to open longer. 

 

sawatdee kap.

LOL. Note the last word is not "night time"

Khao San: After the hype comes the reality - once "billion baht" street" deserted in the daytime

 

Apparently, KSR was already taken over by Thais before the corona, and the bagpackers were staying in the side roads off it. It was always, IMO, a rip off place and I for one will shed no tears for its demise.

Hopefully the tourist bus companies that ran buses ( they sometimes had thieves in the baggage compartment stealing from the bags- a common complaint by bagpackers that lost money and passports etc when I was posting on Lonely Planet ) from KSR will have all gone out of business. I did travel on one after floods prevented the trains from running from Surat Thani, and I was not impressed at all. Good riddance to them, IMO. Government buses are way better.

 

I used to go there in the last century to remind myself why I didn't stay there.

[thaibeachlovers]

18 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Amazing how the tourism sector has taken such a massive hit and yet the Government is not even trying to help out. 

Thailand isn't, IMO, a socialist country. Want welfare, go live in a socialist country.

 

19 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

The Khao San road vendors have also come and gone. 

Good riddance IMO. Rip off vendors selling stuff to gullible youths at far higher prices than in a market or even MBK.

[thaibeachlovers]

31 minutes ago, anterian said:

Once a district gets gentrified there is no going back. 

Indeed. Once upon a time KSR had a sort of down market charm, where bagpackers could sup a beer while watching a VDO in the many restaurants. While the guest houses were overpriced, IMO, they were close to the action, where youths could regale each other with all the places they got wasted in, and plan their onward trip to Had Rin for the FMP, or up to Pai to get high. Everything they needed was close at hand.

 

Then the greedies discovered it and tarted the street up, put the prices up and drove the guesthouses and cheap hotels into the back alleys. IMO that's when the Thai rich youths discovered the night life there. If the locals can't get they rich Thai youths into their establishments still, IMO it's because they got the game plan wrong, and that's on them.

 

Bye KSR, you won't be missed, IMO.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, tonray said:

Perhaps Khao San Rd and the tourist Walking Streets...but there is significant activity out side of those areas that does not require tourism

It always amuses me when a farang claims that Thailand is doomed without them. Every farang could vanish tomorrow and IMO only the bar girls, families and the tourist companies would miss them. Thailand survived just fine prior to 1970 and will do so again if it comes to it.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

Even today's 'billion baht' not what they used to be before, but as the world turns, so are the fortunes of many places and i'm sure that Khao san Rd. will once again will go back to its former glory...

I had many words to describe KSR back in its heyday, but "glory" was not one.

[ChipButty]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I had many words to describe KSR back in its heyday, but "glory" was not one.

I've lived here 25 years I've been twice

[ThailandRyan]

9 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I had many words to describe KSR back in its heyday, but "glory" was not one.

Glory-hole is that the word you were going for...

[ThailandRyan]

4 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

I've lived here 25 years I've been twice

Much like my visits to Bangla in Patong when I lived on Phuket.  Think i visited maybe 3 times.  Spent more time in Phuket Town and then with living in Rawaii we would hit up Laguna and the bars in Kata by the beach, but that was back in the day.  Now I just hang out and listen to live music where we can find it, mainly the Hilary 1 bar in Nana, just have to dodge the LB's on the walk down the road.

[wombat]

er.....lets see.....foreign tourism down 99.5%....domestic tourism .5%....i am beginning to see the problem, i think. i could be wrong of course. 

[mr mr]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL. Note the last word is not "night time"

Khao San: After the hype comes the reality - once "billion baht" street" deserted in the daytime

 

Apparently, KSR was already taken over by Thais before the corona, and the bagpackers were staying in the side roads off it. It was always, IMO, a rip off place and I for one will shed no tears for its demise.

Hopefully the tourist bus companies that ran buses ( they sometimes had thieves in the baggage compartment stealing from the bags- a common complaint by bagpackers that lost money and passports etc when I was posting on Lonely Planet ) from KSR will have all gone out of business. I did travel on one after floods prevented the trains from running from Surat Thani, and I was not impressed at all. Good riddance to them, IMO. Government buses are way better.

 

I used to go there in the last century to remind myself why I didn't stay there.

 

you bet. i could of sworn it said night time when i posted. smoke another one johnny. 

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, sweatalot said:

exactly - without the foreigners -even backpackers - Thailand's  future will be dark

How many backpackers is the worth of a "quality tourist" ?

I doubt there will ever be enough quality tourists the way TAT is dreaming of.

 

btw. The word "quality tourist" is an assault created by greedy people taxing other people only by the amount of money they can press out of them

Around 1998, KSR changed to a Thai students' nightlife scene. 

Thailand can survive without tourists, and their over-inflated self-importance. 

[sammieuk1]

But the economy is only 6% down! khaosod english did a tour around there last week and it looked like the grim reapers pack passage ????   

[thaibeachlovers]

14 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Around 1998, KSR changed to a Thai students' nightlife scene. 

Thailand can survive without tourists, and their over-inflated self-importance. 

I'd like to see tourist numbers the same as in 1995. It was great then, couple of years ago not.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

But the economy is only 6% down! khaosod english did a tour around there last week and it looked like the grim reapers pack passage ????   

Yeah, Something does not compute. We are being told that times are bad, but where I live life is much the same as prior to corona lockdown. I reckon even more cars on the road.

[CanadaSam]

I can't believe the amount of foreign tourist bashers there are on this thread.

 

Khaosan and walking street were among the some of the best incentives for tourists to visit Thailand in the past.

 

I'm guessing that these same tourist bashers initially came to Thailand for these types of unique places, which are not available anywhere else in the world.

 

Just because you found this wonderfully interesting country in the past, and settled down, now you want to close it off to any future tourists to enjoy in the future?  Pretty selfish, if you ask me.

 

Some of my fondest memories are of having massages on the footpath in Khaosan and watching life go by. 

 

Same with having a beer on walking street and watching the excited and fascinated look on foreigners totally amazed with this unique experience.

 

Both places were doing well before Gov't interference started to "make changes" to already well operating places, the Gov't has no right to interfere with private enterprise at all, which were flourishing before their unhelpful and unwanted interference.

 

Please allow Thailand to operate as in the past, a really unique country with amazing and wonderful sights, for newcomers to enjoy in the future.

 

Don't try to keep paradise for yourself only, there is room for everyone from all over the world.

[sweatalot]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

Around 1998, KSR changed to a Thai students' nightlife scene. 

Thailand can survive without tourists, and their over-inflated self-importance. 

Why is TAT so desperately trying to get tourists back?

[sweatalot]

Just now, sweatalot said:

Why is TAT so desperately trying to get tourists back?

And where did I mention the word survive?

[RyanWalker]

It had to happen though. The way people were scammed and ripped off from taxi drivers to vendors to everything, bound to happen. So, som nam na kup

[kcpattaya]

This administration has no clue how to manage a country led alone how to run a business... 

[billd766]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It always amuses me when a farang claims that Thailand is doomed without them. Every farang could vanish tomorrow and IMO only the bar girls, families and the tourist companies would miss them. Thailand survived just fine prior to 1970 and will do so again if it comes to it.

So no farangs ever spent anything on wives, girlfiends, (boyfriends perhaps), no farangs ever bought Thai food at the stalls, no farangs ever spent any money at the 7/11 or the Thai stalls or Thai shops, nobody bought or ate food at places like KFC or McDonalds?

 

All of those shops, food stalls restaurants, bars etc employed Thais, bought their stock from local traders, Makro etc. Many of them will have downsized on their staff or shut down completely. It is called the knock on effect and is happening world wide but more so in Thailand.

 

[billd766]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

Around 1998, KSR changed to a Thai students' nightlife scene. 

Thailand can survive without tourists, and their over-inflated self-importance. 

Is that why so many Thais have lost their jobs?