Khaosan Rd Is It Worth A Visit ?

[Blackandwhite]

What is the lowdown on Khaosan Rd. What is it like compared to Nana and Soi Cowboy.

Can I get there form Nana on the sky train.

Cheers in advance

Simon

[Darknight]

What is the lowdown on Khaosan Rd. What is it like compared to Nana and Soi Cowboy.

Can I get there form Nana on the sky train.

Cheers in advance

Simon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Backpackers central, silver shops , book shops , hippy town , no girls...unless you're into sweaty farang ones. No you can't take the skytrain , you'll need a cab.

[Rinrada]

Full of wanna-be hippies trying to re-create the 60s and 70s.

Magic Bus overland to Greece then a Midnight Express donkey ride via Turkey to Afganistan/Kabul (beads ,braces,spliffs and shags)

From then onto the splendors of the mystical orient-Samakand-Bangers -and Singers.

When they finally got there old Lee Kwan U told them to get their "air" cut,no bell bottoms allowed (remember them)and if you dare light up a joint/fag it will be a free holiday in Changi.... .and not the airport.

For the heavy stuff it was of course the Big Chop...

Now they all doss down in K.S.Rd trying to emulate long forgotten ....wotevers.

[Shola]

What is the lowdown on Khaosan Rd. What is it like compared to Nana and Soi Cowboy.

Can I get there form Nana on the sky train.

Cheers in advance

Simon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Worth a visit, get the skytrain to "phaya Thai' on the Suhumvit line, get off at the left hand side (coming from Nana) and there you can walk to a bus stop which is about 100 m round the corner(Sorry don't know number) or you can just get a cab, which I recommend, takes about 25 mins depending on traffic, but thats the nearest sky train station.

[ProfessorFart]

Go to Saphan Thaksin and take the river ferry service from there.

I'd say its worth a visit for the following reasons.

You can enjoy the free clown show.

You can learn all about Thai culture from the sacred places of learning whilst watching DVDs blaring at 100db, guided by experts some of whom have more than 2 months experience of Thailand.

You can learn how to blend in seamlessly with the locals by pruchasing a pair of bright orange fisherman's pants and if you are lucky you can also get those Thai style dreadlocks. After a day on Khao San Road only the trained eye will be able to tell you from a local.

You can sharpen your haggling skills by going hard at it with vendors on the street there- you can get a 20B lump of pineapple for 15 B after lots of hard bargaining and then retire tired to the closest bar to brag about your triumph.

Learn about how it is to be an intrepid independent traveller and not a vile package tourist by taking any one of the tourist minivans or booking one of the package tours which depart from the dangerous wilds of the end of the street.

There is some first rate crumpet to be found there however and a night out there (and in the surrounding streets) can have its rewards!

[taxexile]

there are some good second hand bookshops , a good selection of copy cd's and dvd's , some cheapo travel agents and some decent photographic gear to be bought round there.

not a bad place to sit for a drink and people watch , lots of falang sub species ,the hip , the grievously unhip , the poser, the down and out , the mock down and out , the gypsy , the rasta , 60's man and woman , the over 30's who came to it all a bit late , the tree huggers and the beardos , predator male groovsters seeking out naive gap year gash , coolest tattoo man and woman , its an aromatic and humid jungle of armpit and body hair.

a good way to get there is by river taxi , get off at the phra athit pier after the phra pinklao bridge and walk through to ksr.

there's a decent riverside restaurant near the pier ( they dont serve banana pancakes !)

[Pablo H]

Khaosan is OK for a day/night out. Dont expect service with a smile there though, you will most probably be treated like shit by the guesthouse receptionists, waiters & waitresses.

The plastic hippies marching up and down are a sight, if your feeling like a pick me up the sight of these wipes should certainly give you a giggle.

I often wonder, what they are writing in that little black book of theirs, "today sat on KSR, drank a Chang, stole tissue paper from restaurant (I saved 10 baht on toilet roll) bought a pair of second hand sandels, still waiting for the Western Union from Daddy, must e-mail him tommorrow".

Gullivers is worth a trip at night, dont know what the other poster

no girls...unless you're into sweaty farang ones

was on about as last week the place was packed with Thai girls as well as some sweet looking farang girls. Lava is a place to avoid unless you like to be in a packed sweatshop with mainly guys, I lasted 10 minutes in there.

If youre staying on Sukhumvit and getting a bit tired of the same old thing Khaosan is definetely worth athe trip.

[peterzxr]

I think that just about sums it up really - interesting for a visit / couple of nights stay, good location for airport, great for travel agents, cd's, vcd's and hugely overpriced souvenir shops.

Gulliver's is a real good bar - loadsa t'v screens showing various sports channels and some pool tables and a generally pretty unseedy (therefore unusual) atmosphere.

Frankly, the only reason to go to Lava is to pick up some local gash that you're probably better off steering clear of.

Anyway, all in all, worth it for a sightseeing trip to look at all the wannabe travellers that think a couple of weeks on Samui, a Full Moon Party and a few days in the Khao San means thay have 'been to Thailand' n the way to Oz - very amusing.

Oh, final thought, if you've been away from LOS for a while it's probably a good way to ease your way back in by staying for a couple of nights in this touristy area before heading off to the real thing again.

[Oleg_Rus]

Khao Sarn Rd - naive, one night in bangkok street. I like the spirit there. sorry, cannot join it anymore. I envy those boys and girls, didn't had a chance travel so freely as they do: Perth-Indonesia-Lankawi(M'sya)-Penang-PhiPhi-Bangkok-ChiangMai-Ankor Wat-Burma-Bombey-Nepal....maybe some bubba in india and go home via British Airways.

Wish I'll be there

[george]

Amazing backpackers. I love this one:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1054

[Shola]

Amazing backpackers. I love this one:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1054

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hillarious!!

[johnnyk]

Khao San, Nana and Cowboy mentioned in the same sentence asking for comparison???

Just what is it you are looking for/hoping to find?

[chaladmak]

hmmm... has it become sort of landmark or visitors-must?

although for many thai teens it is one of popular chill out destinations. crowds of them at night....

[joinme2leave]

imho, IF u can't afford the 12 hour bus and ferry to Samui, give it a try and take a closer KS look.

Otherwise, really!!!!!!, forget it.

Me thinks, best connection is Ratchathewi/BTW - get off exit AsiaHotel - and take bus #16 (any color) direction Thewet/KaoSarn.

[anna234cn]

I'm arranging a visit to Khao San road, Nana and Cowboy within one day. Then I think I can do a comparison.

[davethailand]

I'm arranging a visit to Khao San road, Nana and Cowboy within one day. Then I think I can do a comparison.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A comparison of what?

They are completey different

KSR= Backpackers, Dirty dreadlocks, Sweaty farangs wearing dirty headbands, ponces

Soi Cowboy = Backpackers (in the daytime walking around with thier noses up in the air)

Thai girls

Holidaymakers who come here for ladies (i hate the other term)

Money spenders

Edited February 20, 2005 by davethailand

[Darknight]

The best one i heard there was from the guy who came into the 0.5 bath/minute internet shop asking if they had a good connection and if he could upload 300 pictures to his parents ....

[ZZZ]

Perfect place to go to if you want to go to Kuta Beach or Samui but only have a few hours.

Take the SkyTrain to Ratchthewi then walk back 5min to the khlong, take the first khlong taxi to the end station, less than 10min, <5Baht, then walk 15min.

Or take the 30min boatride from Saphan Taksin to the end station on the guided tourist boat. Only about 10Baht and and quite enjoyable. From the end station it's about 10min walk if walking thru the temple grounds.

[pyros]

Well ,i never been there but i'm pretty sure i'll like it as i don't like Nana ( way overpriced and the girls are nothing more than looks ) . I love Samui and the way of going out there , ... way nicer than BKK , my opinion ...since i just got back yesterday i'll have to wait 3 months but i'll see next time for sure . BTW , you know the prices in Nana and Soi Cowboy are well above the 110 target . Patpong is way better value now with 80 bath for a Sing ....

[Lars]

Khao San rd is mentioned as a must-see place in most guides there is about Thailand and Bkk but I always fail to understand why(ok,only been there twice,and both times because my sister-in-law,thai,wanted to go there and wanted a driver,me..).

Almost forgot to mention that my wife also wanted to go

[Marmite the Dog]

Gullivers is worth a trip at night, dont know what the other poster

no girls...unless you're into sweaty farang ones

was on about as last week the place was packed with Thai girls as well as some sweet looking farang girls.

I remeber seeing a group of girls in Gullivers four years ago. One of them was especially cute, but on the game. She's still looking after some of the customers now, so I guess she hasn't struck gold yet.

I saw a Swedish guy trying to molest a Katoey in there, but he/she kept on trying to get him outside before getting down to business. I saw the Swede two days later in the Police station with his head in his hands, looking very sorry for himself.

I also remember a group of Aussies snorting lines of coke off the bar in full view of everyone, shouting at the tops of their voices about how high they were.

Intertesting place

[gburns57au]

Gullivers is worth a trip at night, dont know what the other poster

no girls...unless you're into sweaty farang ones

was on about as last week the place was packed with Thai girls as well as some sweet looking farang girls.

I remeber seeing a group of girls in Gullivers four years ago. One of them was especially cute, but on the game. She's still looking after some of the customers now, so I guess she hasn't struck gold yet.

I saw a Swedish guy trying to molest a Katoey in there, but he/she kept on trying to get him outside before getting down to business. I saw the Swede two days later in the Police station with his head in his hands, looking very sorry for himself.

I also remember a group of Aussies snorting lines of coke off the bar in full view of everyone, shouting at the tops of their voices about how high they were.

Intertesting place

went there once with a mate and a couple of Nana girls after Nana had closed, we did get into BKK late at night and wanted a few more drinks.....only a few places open and noone around....mind you it was 3am....stayed till about 5 am....cheap food and cheap but warmish beer....the first bottle required ice in the glass to make it palatable. Caught a taxi from Nana......40 baht for all of us......we let the girls hail the cab and then jumped in....the driver was a bit pissed off.....it was 100 to get back to Nana....

Edited March 6, 2005 by gburns57au

[boris]

Khao San Road always gets a fairly lukewarm reception on this forum, mainly because it is the abode of the much disliked backpackers.Of course the backpacking fraternity does have its silly and half baked elements.Yet somehow it is difficult to understand the dislike it generates from many Thai Visa members.Could it be I wonder that subconsciously it is jealousy that is at work given that the Khao San crowd are generally younger, better educated and more attractive than some of these sad old losers staring at their computers day after day or answering some damfool query from a lowlife visarunner.In a few years the KSR mob will have finished with their weird globe trotting and will be settling down to being prosperous lawyers,investment bankers and advertising execs.But the dopey old losers will still be here with comments like, " gor blimey,aren't those hippies down KSR a bunch of tossers".

[Lars]

Dopey old loser or not, what backpackers do when(if)they finish their globetrotting dosen't matter very much here, question was "Is Khao San rd worth visiting?".

That's what we've been answering.

I still fail to see what could make it worth a visit.

[Jockstar]

Dopey old loser or not, what backpackers do when(if)they finish their globetrotting dosen't matter very much here, question was "Is Khao San rd worth visiting?".

That's what we've been answering.

I still fail to see what could make it worth a visit.

The Shammrock bar on KSR road is worth a visit at night. They have got some great bands there. Doing covers though. But some real good bands. Also its worth a look to see some of the stranges toursist and locals. Also many young Thais go there on the weekends. Good viewing(if ya know what i mean). If you're single. Then the amount of chicks there is good. Ok some are hookers. But most aren't.

[booma]

I just seem to flirt around KSR, the surrounding streets are a lot more appealing.

Have a look up KSR do some shopping (a bit of a rip-off though) but then retire to one of the Sois or Rambuttri. A truly great bar can be found up Samsen Rd 'The 13th Adhere Bar' if you like live music go here and listen to Georgia singing the blues, brilliant.

[jevries]

If you like ZOO's than this is mosdef the place for you to be...but do not stay for too long. I'm glad it's only spot in Bangkok where all these tourist gather to make themselves feeling at home. One thing have to be said for cheap printed T-shirts this is really one of the hotspots.

[Rolo]

I think KSR is definitly worth checking out, espcially for the CD/DVD's. I think you do have t be carfeul whilst shopping there as prices and quality vary greatly from stall to stall and shop to shop.

For instance, while trying to book flights to phuket i was told a huge range of prices ranging up to 4000 baht. In the end i just found out what time the plane flew and went to buy the ticket from the airport before hand.

There is a proffesional looking travelagent up near the Burger King end which is not a rip off place and i would recommend using there, seem to have forgotten the name at the moment.

KSR can also be handy for after hours drinks with basically all small hotels selling at all hours

Rolo

[johnnyk]

You get to see the people you came to LoS to get away from. Wow.

[Pie Boy]

Khao San Road always gets a fairly lukewarm reception on this forum, mainly because it is the abode of the much disliked backpackers.Of course the backpacking fraternity does have its silly and half baked elements.Yet somehow it is difficult to understand the dislike it generates from many Thai Visa members.Could it be I wonder that subconsciously it is jealousy that is at work given that the Khao San crowd are generally younger, better educated and more attractive than some of these sad old losers staring at their computers day after day or answering some damfool query from a lowlife visarunner.In a few years the KSR mob will have finished with their weird globe trotting and will be settling down to being prosperous lawyers,investment bankers and advertising execs.But the dopey old losers will still be here with comments like, " gor blimey,aren't those hippies down KSR a bunch of tossers".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Then again some of them may return as English teachers.