What happened to Khaosan Road?

[Dolf]

1 minute ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Lol nonsense, all the parties are full of loud EDM and buckets. It is actually a minority by now to live with bob marley style. There is plenty of good parties and music on phangan for example but the mainstream things anywhere is long time gone from that.

Well whatever music same dreadlock morons

[n00dle]

3 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

When is the last time you been there, it is been like that for like a decade. That is the same anywhere too, including full moon. EDM is the norm.

actually not so much. house and techno sure, EDM not so much except in the most commercial of environments.

[ChaiyaTH]

Just now, Dolf said:

Well whatever music same dreadlock morons

I see few with dreadlocks, def a minority. Maybe only phi phi would be an exception to that.

[fondue zoo]

3 hours ago, VinnieK said:

garbage music

 

No such thing, there is only, Music.   you like, you no like, wax on, wax off

[ChaiyaTH]

Just now, n00dle said:

actually not so much. house and techno sure, EDM not so much except in the most commercial of environments.

Yeah I guess that is why you would hear mainly EDM, at most places, as those are the commercial ones.

[Dolf]

Just now, ChaiyaTH said:

I see few with dreadlocks, def a minority. Maybe only phi phi would be an exception to that.

How do you manage to visit all 3 every week?

[Dolf]

3 hours ago, bob smith said:

I prefer the old 'dump' to what is currently on offer.

 

I wont be going again that's for sure.

 

bob.

Have you been to the National museum? Best attraction in Bangkok.

[bob smith]

1 minute ago, Dolf said:

Have you been to the National museum? Best attraction in Bangkok.

is that the one on soi 4?

 

bob.

[Dolf]

2 minutes ago, bob smith said:

is that the one on soi 4?

 

bob.

Not your type of thing i guess

[dayo202]

3 hours ago, bob smith said:

what's there?

The next soi over, much more quiet and cheaper also.

[Yagoda]

3 hours ago, VinnieK said:

KSR was cool back in the 90s

Then around 2000 the 'party animals' came, with their garbage music.

Been downhill ever since.

Nothing to do with being young or old.

Its good taste vs bad.

No KSR was cool in the 80s. It's been infested with yobs since then. 

 

I go there now and then for semi pros

[bob smith]

Just now, Yagoda said:

No KSR was cool in the 80s. It's been infested with yobs since then. 

 

I go there now and then for semi pros

ive just met a guy who said it was cool in the 70s! he claims it has been yob infested since then.

 

I wonder what the guy in the next bar will say…

 

bob.

[Dan O]

4 hours ago, bob smith said:

I went to Khaosan road for the 1st time when I was a teenager and it definitely was nothing like that.

 

bob.

Yeah but that was back in 1950 wasn't it Bob?

[roo860]

3 hours ago, 2long said:

Go to Rambuttri Alley, which runs parallel. It's like KSR used to be, and you can hear yourself think. 

Just been over to KSR, still deal with the same silver jewellery wholesalers for over 20yrs, Rambuttri Rd used to be great for proper Thai food, locals used to flock there, not anymore, pretty much all gone.

[Lemsta69]

1 minute ago, roo860 said:

Just been over to KSR, still deal with the same silver jewellery wholesalers for over 20yrs, Rambuttri Rd used to be great for proper Thai food, locals used to flock there, not anymore, pretty much all gone.

 

Agreed. Was out on Th. Rambuttri the other night (as opposed to Soi Rambuttri) and it was horrible.

 

I was an on-and-off tourist during the noughties (now a resident) so only went there a handful of times but I remember one year we rocked up after a long absence and noticed the vibe you mentioned.

 

All gone now. Same with Soi Rambuttri, it's been overrun and has lost all its charm. I think the rot set in sometime in 1998 when some teenage Aussie flashpackers turned up at the crappy old Mango guesthouse and asked the girl behind the bar to play their Kylie Minogue tape! 😱

[Chetzee]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Nothing changed - what you described is pretty much how its always been.

The only difference is that you became old and tainted....   and turned into a GoM unless drunk.... 

 

That probably applies to many of us.

 

 

In the noughties... we'd go out in KSR every few nights... it was a great place to be (and was not just foreigners, but lots of places that a majority of Thai's went to...  Bangkok Bar, Austins, Suzies....   also the Club in its earlier years). 

 

I wouldn't dream of going out there now...  as much fun as it used to be, I'm not interested in that party lifestyle anymore - I've grown out of it and dinner with plenty of friends is more my thing.

 

 

 

 

ABSOLUTE twaddle ..... in the early and mid '80 there was no music in KSR .... more a pavement culture of unkempt sweaty types sat in small groups sharing a bottle of cheap San Som or the like ..... If we wanted music we'd head to a couple of bars in Patpong that had a dance floor .... the Sugar Shank for one ...... here the music was pretty crap .... endless repeats of a Land down under ! until Bowie came to town and we all learnt to dance all tracks from the Serious Moondance tour .....   At about this time I started to bring vinal back from the uk to give to the sugar shacks DJ .....to help improve things  .... some of it went down poorly other they lept on ... like an extended version of FranKie goes to Hollywood    Relax .............      At that time the best sounds were in The Rome club in soi4 ..... massive screen and much better sounds ..... big dance floor but  thousands of rich Thai men hitting on you ! .... on balance though it was worth the effort .... 

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, Chetzee said:

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Nothing changed - what you described is pretty much how its always been.

The only difference is that you became old and tainted....   and turned into a GoM unless drunk.... 

 

That probably applies to many of us.

 

 

In the noughties... we'd go out in KSR every few nights... it was a great place to be (and was not just foreigners, but lots of places that a majority of Thai's went to...  Bangkok Bar, Austins, Suzies....   also the Club in its earlier years). 

 

I wouldn't dream of going out there now...  as much fun as it used to be, I'm not interested in that party lifestyle anymore - I've grown out of it and dinner with plenty of friends is more my thing.

 

 

 

 

Expand  

ABSOLUTE twaddle ..... in the early and mid '80 there was no music in KSR .... more a pavement culture of unkempt sweaty types sat in small groups sharing a bottle of cheap San Som or the like ..... If we wanted music we'd head to a couple of bars in Patpong that had a dance floor .... the Sugar Shank for one ...... here the music was pretty crap .... endless repeats of a Land down under ! until Bowie came to town and we all learnt to dance all tracks from the Serious Moondance tour .....   At about this time I started to bring vinal back from the uk to give to the sugar shacks DJ .....to help improve things  .... some of it went down poorly other they lept on ... like an extended version of FranKie goes to Hollywood    Relax .............      At that time the best sounds were in The Rome club in soi4 ..... massive screen and much better sounds ..... big dance floor but  thousands of rich Thai men hitting on you ! .... on balance though it was worth the effort .... 

 

Just my experience of KSR in the noughties...  (i.e. 2000 upto about 2010)....   not absolute twaddle at all.

 

But, if you want to reminice about how it was 40 years ago, then I'm sure it was very different that far back.... almost everything was, but what do you expect if you are comparing now to 40 years ago ? .

 

 

Since those times in the noughties, I don't see significant change to KSR - I just see evolution in what people wear and how they enjoy themselves but the base recipe is still the same... Young people, loud music, busy area, party vibe - and that hasn't changed in 25 years... 

 

[Dolf]

1 hour ago, Dolf said:

Have you been to the National museum? Best attraction in Bangkok.

That got a sad emoji? Gee there's some sad people

[Hokeus]

KSR was fun in the early nineties. It was a place mainly for young people and it consisted of mostly budget travelers wearing singlets and fishermen pants comparing the length of their underarm braids.
 

Most of them were in between journeys to the north or south of Thailand or other places in the region. Others were there buying up cheap silver to take to Japan to sell in order to replenish their funds so that they could continue traveling.
 

It was considered the travelers hub where you could go to get cheap tickets to onward travel destinations and information about other interesting places to visit. This was of course the pre-internet era. 
 

We used to go down there to scroll through the used bookstores that were selling cheap second hand English language travel books and novels.
 

Many places offering a khao pad and banana smoothie for around 60 Baht (US$2.50 at the time) and then you could sit there for hours and watch multiple Hollywood movies being played from VHS tapes on TV screens. The place was very relaxed and a good escape from the general Bangkok chaos. Most of the venues were open air restaurants that also served Kloster and Carlsberg beer and very few bars existed. Most of the people were there just to eat and relax and were not there looking for any nightlife. 
 

I never spent a night in any of the guesthouses there, but there was nothing annoying about the place in general from what I recall. At that time KSR was mainly that one main soi and it hadn't really spread out into many of the other adjoining sois yet. 
 

Geographically it's still good for budget tourists who will only be in Bangkok for a few days and who would like to be based in that area for easy access to the river and the palace. 
 

If it still was anything like what it was 30 years ago then it would be great. Places change. So best to accept that and just write it off for now, until perhaps one day it becomes something more interesting again. 

Edited March 13 by Hokeus

[Chetzee]

47 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Just my experience of KSR in the noughties...  (i.e. 2000 upto about 2010)....   not absolute twaddle at all.

 

But, if you want to reminice about how it was 40 years ago, then I'm sure it was very different that far back.... almost everything was, but what do you expect if you are comparing now to 40 years ago ? .

 

 

Since those times in the noughties, I don't see significant change to KSR - I just see evolution in what people wear and how they enjoy themselves but the base recipe is still the same... Young people, loud music, busy area, party vibe - and that hasn't changed in 25 years... 

 

You miss my point …. You said Nothing changed - what you described is pretty much how its always been.

I said that was bollack ! And it is … 

[Dolf]

7 minutes ago, Hokeus said:

Others were there buying up cheap silver to take to Japan to sell in order to replenish their funds so that they could continue traveling. 

Why is silver cheaper there?

[Hokeus]

Just now, Dolf said:

Why is silver cheaper there?

Not sure why. But there were dozen of shops on the connecting sois at the time that had silver jewelry stacked in clear plastic boxes and it was a place where travelers would go to buy it in bulk to then resell it for more money in other countries in the region. 

[Dolf]

6 minutes ago, Hokeus said:

Not sure why. But there were dozen of shops on the connecting sois at the time that had silver jewelry stacked in clear plastic boxes and it was a place where travelers would go to buy it in bulk to then resell it for more money in other countries in the region. 

Could be fakes

[richard_smith237]

Memoria praeteritorum bonorum....      Its what the romans described as the phenomenon of 'memory of a good past'....

 

In modern times its called 'Rosy Retrospection'...  and is contributed to by an evolutionary bias which promotes a positive self-view...

 

 

Thats why all the old guys reminisce fondly of the past conveniently forgetting negative aspects... 

Its the same reason old guys complain about the 'youth of today'.... 

 

...  This Rosy Retrospection is prevalent in most of us yet few will recognise or admit it exists because they themselves lack the critical self consciousness to recognise and identify their own bias.... 

 

 

... Hence KSR use to be better, use to have a better vibe etc etc... while conveniently forgetting the negatives.

 

 

 

[CG1 Blue]

6 hours ago, Dolf said:

Go to Ratchada soi 4

Just researched it. It's a lively area with 90% Thai people in their early 20s partying? 

[Dolf]

1 minute ago, CG1 Blue said:

Just researched it. It's a lively area with 90% Thai people in their early 20s partying? 

More like 97% Thai. Nice big clubs. Some have live music. 

[2long]

We change.

Generations change.

The rental fees there surely change.

I wonder how many would want to go back to the old days, with squat toilets, no internet, no forums to moan on etc etc.

I've lived in BKK for 24 years and used to frequent KSR almost daily. Now, once in a while. Yes, it's a lot louder, and less pleasant.... but it is what it is, and those who want a different vibe need to find their new KSR.... or quit bitchin'.

[richard_smith237]

35 minutes ago, Chetzee said:

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Just my experience of KSR in the noughties...  (i.e. 2000 upto about 2010)....   not absolute twaddle at all.

 

But, if you want to reminice about how it was 40 years ago, then I'm sure it was very different that far back.... almost everything was, but what do you expect if you are comparing now to 40 years ago ? .

 

 

Since those times in the noughties, I don't see significant change to KSR - I just see evolution in what people wear and how they enjoy themselves but the base recipe is still the same... Young people, loud music, busy area, party vibe - and that hasn't changed in 25 years... 

 

You miss my point …. You said Nothing changed - what you described is pretty much how its always been.

I said that was bollack ! And it is … 

 

Well in that case... I agree... over the last 100 years, KSR has changed.... and it has changed from 40 years ago according to some posters.

 

Since late 1990's / early 2000's the only part of the KSR recipe to change everyone gets there info from their mobile phone rather than a LonelyPlanet and travel agents...   They night time partying, the bars, the crowds, the loud music is all still there as it was 25 year ago... 

 

 

 

 

[CG1 Blue]

5 hours ago, 2long said:

Go to Rambuttri Alley, which runs parallel. It's like KSR used to be, and you can hear yourself think. 

Is Rambuttri Alley the road that goes around the temple grounds? Spent a daytime there last year having a few beers. Nice chilled out leafy area. I liked it. 

 

I'd never been there, but one of the mates I was with said he used to stay in the guest houses down there about 20 yrs ago. He wanted us to book rooms down there - he was reminiscing about the good old days. That was until we checked out a couple of the rooms. Bathrooms were the size of a broom cupboard with a toilet and a hand held shower attachment over the sink. It made me realise we had simpler needs in our earlier visits to LOS 😆

 

Does it liven up at night? 

[CG1 Blue]

13 minutes ago, Dolf said:

More like 97% Thai. Nice big clubs. Some have live music. 

So 97% Thais all around 20 yrs old, and clubbing.

I'm 54. I like a party but I don't think it would be my scene.