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

[Nout]

14 hours ago, Gandtee said:

The same will apply to Pattaya. Seediness and originality was the attraction. Now being changed into another plastic destination with little charm. Look at Ban Saen.It won't be long before Malls lose their attraction for shopping, and only a place for the locals to cool down.

Been Saen never had character,  night life, energy. It was just a mistake where people get bored easily and plan their next trip to Pattaya.

[GrandPapillon]

17 hours ago, Gandtee said:

The same will apply to Pattaya. Seediness and originality was the attraction.

Pattaya was the best between 2000 to 2007/2008 before they upgraded everything to make it a "family" destination

 

god that place was awesome, and fun ????

Edited December 12, 2020 by GrandPapillon

[shdmn]

45 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

Pattaya was the best between 2000 to 2007/2008 before they upgraded everything to make it a "family" destination

 

god that place was awesome, and fun ????

I think it is probably still pretty good for what you are are talking about.  They are just in different areas around town now.  Most (but not all) of it is gone from the area between the beach and 2nd road and moved over to the other side of 2nd road.  That's the biggest difference.  Walking street gogo's are still there so that is all more or less the same.  Maybe more of a spectacle for family oriented people to go down and see all the sex tourists walking around like they are circus freaks or whatever but it's still seedy enough where it counts too.  More expensive to be sure but that's another conversation.

Edited December 12, 2020 by shdmn

[Nout]

On 12/10/2020 at 11:31 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL, that would be backpacker bashing, not Thai bashing.

In the days I used to go there the tourists ( they were not "travellers" IMO ) were in their late teens and early 20s.

Why envious? I had travelled far more than most of them would have, given I was 20 years older and been travelling all my life ( from the age of 3 ). I also didn't carry everything on my back- I had wheels on my bag. Humping one of those bag things is for mugs IMO.

Misunderstanding? Perhaps it is you misunderstanding what I posted- you certainly read  a lot into it that I didn't say, eg knowing little or nothing about the place, which is just flat out wrong.

The Kao San Rd was, at one time, one of the 3 Ks, the others being Kabul and Kathmandu,

where a horde of like minded people congregated as a tribe sharing similar values  often counterculture, rebellious, creative and somehow distanced from main stream society and its tourists. There was a sense of excitement and music was everywhere in the air. There were no hotels on the KSR at this time. The biggest guest house was the Buddy Beer Bar. There was the HELL(O) bar and the 2 notorious PRO Guest houses. This unique face of THE KSR began to disappear around 1992 when hotels started to arise and the KSR became a soft, safe space. Still a great place for shopping and a non challenging place for LPG/ Gap year tourists. Tourists who visited and dismissed the KSR during this latter phase never really new it.

[Nout]

On 12/13/2020 at 12:57 AM, GrandPapillon said:

Pattaya was the best between 2000 to 2007/2008 before they upgraded everything to make it a "family" destination

 

god that place was awesome, and fun ????

Yeah the family destination is and was nonsense. Its about as rational as flattening a mountain range to make it more accessible. Its bad enough having kids in pubs but trying to convert a rare male space and adult space into a family space was absurd.