Khao San Road reinvents itself - foreigners have disappeared so businesses focus on Thais

[webfact]

File photo

 

The head of the Khao San Road business trade association told TNN that the famed tourist street was shifting its focus from foreign tourists to Thais.

 

Sanga Reuangwattanakul said that the pandemic, and now the double whammy of Omicron, had dealt the area many blows.

 

The future was now changing from Khao San being a "walking street" for foreigners to being an "entertainment street" for Thais.

 

He hoped that as the pandemic recedes the street will start to generate more money to get back at least 25% of its previous glories. 

 

Events under the banner of "Unseen Bangkok @Khao San Road" took place at the weekend with the Chana Songkhram police and the local district office helping out with the festivities. 

 

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[RichardColeman]

13 minutes ago, webfact said:

The head of the Khao San Road business trade association told TNN that the famed tourist street was shifting its focus from foreign tourists to Thais.

Shifting from non existing foreigners to Thai with no money  ? Next up I guess will be a rebranding for Myanmar tourists

[stigar]

Been living in bangkok for 6 years before..only been 1 time in khaosan road.Never again.

[Don Chance]

I was there last month. Place is ruined. Not even a 7-11 to be seen.  A lot of cops and young thai's high on drugs. Very loud music too.   I saw some farang family come along and were forced to leave because of the noise. There little child was holding their ears because it was loud.

 

[GrandPapillon]

Khao San Road, the new RCA? ????

 

actually, better that way

[KhunLA]

About time they concentrate on the domestic market ...  

 

Seems the only businesses, countrywide, that survived during the 'situation' were the ones savvy enough to target the local market all along.  

Edited January 3, 2022 by KhunLA

[tomazbodner]

33 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

I was there last month. Place is ruined. Not even a 7-11 to be seen.  A lot of cops and young thai's high on drugs. Very loud music too.   I saw some farang family come along and were forced to leave because of the noise. There little child was holding their ears because it was loud.

 

Perfect for Thais then!

[Nabby]

Thailand is finished. Will be many years before substantial #s of foreign tourists return. They can thank their good buddy China. 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The head of the Khao San Road business trade association told TNN that the famed tourist street was shifting its focus from foreign tourists to Thais.

Looking at the prospects for 2022 that's a wise move... I just wonder why he didn't think of it at the end of 2020?

[Liverpool Lou]

41 minutes ago, Nabby said:

Thailand is finished. Will be many years before substantial #s of foreign tourists return. They can thank their good buddy China. 

Thailand is a long way from being "finished".   The country can survive with the sectors other than tourism that comprise approximately 80% of GDP.

[Burma Bill]

1 hour ago, tomazbodner said:

Very loud music too.

Not surprising, a common trait in Thailand:-

(photos taken in Isaan)

 

 

[Metapod]

5 hours ago, stigar said:

Been living in bangkok for 6 years before..only been 1 time in khaosan road.Never again.

you sound like a lot of fun

[stigar]

3 minutes ago, Metapod said:

you sound like a lot of fun

Im over that period.Now i just with my lady and her kids.I been around the world as a seaman offshore.I had my experience.

[stigar]

I prefer a cold beer a my balcony.I had alot of fun in thailand before. Anyway its time to settle down.Its my own choise.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

the problem is that the THAILAND PASS does not work properly.

the phones numbers there DO NOT ANSWER.

there is no way to check the status of your application.

no way to update with new required documents (need to start the whole process again...

just because the idiot programmers do not know how to program the updates!!),

and the worst - THEY STOPPED REPLYING THE RESULT !! I AM WAITING MORE THAN

7DAYS NOW FOR MY RESULT - NO REPLY FROM THEM AT ALL !!

what a disgrace. they insist of pre payment of 2 PCR tests, but the web site

to do so DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY !!!

SO for 4200 cost of PCR tests, they propably lost hundreads of millions of baht

in revenues !!!

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

yes, so many thais neverheard about this street and just can't wait to book into backpackers

hostel and than go to getdrunk and buy a bus ticket the next day to koh samui or chiang mai !!

such an exciting street !! bus and air tickets to all over thailand..and the world !!

just be carefull not to get scammed by one of those travel agencies,as it happaned to me

few years ago. i paid cash for an air ticket, i trusted the woman there because the wall behind her was full of hundreads of passport photos of travellers from my country (!!), and when i came few days

later to collect the ticker - the whole office disapeared !!

but i kept the receipt !! MINI TOURS !!!

[The Hammer2021]

9 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Shifting from non existing foreigners to Thai with no money  ? Next up I guess will be a rebranding for Myanmar tourists

Bangkok Thais have plenty  of money. Thonglor is awash with young money

[The Hammer2021]

30 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

yes, so many thais neverheard about this street and just can't wait to book into backpackers

hostel and than go to getdrunk and buy a bus ticket the next day to koh samui or chiang mai !!

such an exciting street !! bus and air tickets to all over thailand..and the world !!

just be carefull not to get scammed by one of those travel agencies,as it happaned to me

few years ago. i paid cash for an air ticket, i trusted the woman there because the wall behind her was full of hundreads of passport photos of travellers from my country (!!), and when i came few days

later to collect the ticker - the whole office disapeared !!

but i kept the receipt !! MINI TOURS !!!

Ha ha ha. But thousands didn't get ripped  off, had  a great time  and used the place as an international  crossroads with nightlife  music, shopping,   food, friendship, contacts, great drugs, travel bargains, jobs and the start of so many adventures and so much fun...

[The Hammer2021]

37 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

the problem is that the THAILAND PASS does not work properly.

the phones numbers there DO NOT ANSWER.

there is no way to check the status of your application.

no way to update with new required documents (need to start the whole process again...

just because the idiot programmers do not know how to program the updates!!),

and the worst - THEY STOPPED REPLYING THE RESULT !! I AM WAITING MORE THAN

7DAYS NOW FOR MY RESULT - NO REPLY FROM THEM AT ALL !!

what a disgrace. they insist of pre payment of 2 PCR tests, but the web site

to do so DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY !!!

SO for 4200 cost of PCR tests, they propably lost hundreads of millions of baht

in revenues !!!

So you are having problems with the Thailand  pass system like you  did with your KSR travel agent?

[The Hammer2021]

Actually  life  experience  is about  attitude  not age. I too have been around the  world but a few years ago at 68 I began to slow down. In my experience  the youth who 'dis' the older travellers usually fade out as middle  aged mediocrities in their middle 30s having seen little and done even less,

Edited January 3, 2022 by onthedarkside
quote of hidden post removed

[goldenbrwn1]

54 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

the problem is that the THAILAND PASS does not work properly.

the phones numbers there DO NOT ANSWER.

there is no way to check the status of your application.

no way to update with new required documents (need to start the whole process again...

just because the idiot programmers do not know how to program the updates!!),

and the worst - THEY STOPPED REPLYING THE RESULT !! I AM WAITING MORE THAN

7DAYS NOW FOR MY RESULT - NO REPLY FROM THEM AT ALL !!

what a disgrace. they insist of pre payment of 2 PCR tests, but the web site

to do so DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY !!!

SO for 4200 cost of PCR tests, they propably lost hundreads of millions of baht

in revenues !!!

I don’t remember waiting more than a few days for mine which was done in November. Also I didn’t pay for 2 pcr tests?? I payed for one pre flight in UK and one at a 24 hr quarantine hotel when I arrived. 

[MrJ2U]

It's now just a very boring street with a few places open 

 

The craziness,hotties, cheap drinks are gone.

 

Plenty of other places to go in Bangkok where at least you can people watch.

[MrJ2U]

1 hour ago, stigar said:

Rigth.I prefer a cold beer a my balcony.I had alot of fun in thailand before.Anyway its time to settle down.Its my own choise.

Probably more entertaining than Khao San Road.

 

It's virtually empty but drink prices are like its the hippest place in Bangkok.

 

 

[LaosLover]

So where am I supposed to buy a broken down copy of The Beach or The DaVinci code now?

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

1 hour ago, goldenbrwn1 said:

I don’t remember waiting more than a few days for mine which was done in November. Also I didn’t pay for 2 pcr tests?? I payed for one pre flight in UK and one at a 24 hr quarantine hotel when I arrived. 

now there is a new document required - payment proof for 2 PCR tests.

you will not find this requirement on the THAILAND PASS website.

they will tell you about it only AFTER you were rejected, and the only way to

update your application is to START IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!

[spidermike007]

14 hours ago, Nabby said:

Thailand is finished. Will be many years before substantial #s of foreign tourists return. They can thank their good buddy China. 

Plus their own sabateurs like Prayuth, Phiphat and Anutin. Anyone who has been double or triple vaxed with a good vaccine, and been tested multiple times, is not a threat to Thailand.

 

However, highly selective shutdowns and porous borders manned by Prayuth's super corrupt crew are a real danger to the safety of the nation. 

 

Khao San Road has lost its character. Not much appeal for foreigners any more, anyway. Another sacrifice in the ongoing pasteurization of Thailand and the fake purity campaign by the goons. They just do not get it. But then again, they don't get much, other than the peoples cash. 

[BinJakob]

KSR used to be fun. Anyone who says otherwise is boring.

Edited January 4, 2022 by BinJakob

[connda]

The Thai government has successfully killed the geese that laid the golden eggs.

By 2025 Thailand - culturally - will be simply look like an upscale shopping mall surrounded by crumbling sidewalks.

Cui bono?  Vietnam.

[connda]

2 hours ago, BinJakob said:

KSR used to be fun. Anyone who says otherwise is boring.

Today? 
This is the Thai government's New Normal vision of "Fun!"

[connda]

19 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Ha ha ha. But thousands didn't get ripped  off, had  a great time  and used the place as an international  crossroads with nightlife  music, shopping,   food, friendship, contacts, great drugs, travel bargains, jobs and the start of so many adventures and so much fun...

It's deader than a box of railroad spikes now - and it will never recover.  That goose has been cooked, eaten, and the bones thrown to the soi dogs.  It ain't coming back - ever.

Next in line:  Pai and Koh Phangan.

That's Ok.  Eventually places like Vietnam and Mexico will fill that vacuum.