Khao San Road Area

[Donz]

I love Khoa san rd, and more importantly its loves me.

I used to get so dunk at Lava lounge and try to bargain the people at the buddy lodge (next to mcdonalds) for hours crawling all over the longe blind drunk.

Had many good memories there.

I remember getting so drunk I left the door wide open while I slept till the afternoon and they wanted to chage me more.

But with my good looks the lady let me go.

Dam its great being me.

[rak sa_ngop]

For lovers (and haters) of KSR the follow-up film of Tony Jaa's from "Tom-Yum Goong" called "Ong Bak" has some interesting scenes filmed around KSR. I think the film's great, but make sure you get the DVD version with English (or more accurately Thaiglish) subtitles.

RSN,

Where can I pick up a copy of that?

Is it available at Pantip and the street bazaars or can I but it at a retail outlet as it's a thai film and copyrighted in thailand?

As far as I know the Thai retailers only have the Thai subtitle version. For the English version you should be able to find it quite easily at the normal 'less-than-original' outlets. I have seen it in MBK.

PS Enjoy the fight scenes with the KSR farangs getting the sh*t kicked out of them!

[totlanh]

Love everything about the place,superb people watching area.For those who knock it hel_l you,re nothing but snobs

[alexth]

I can't say I love it, but definitely 1000x better than Soi Nana, Soi Cowboy or Patpong

[leftcross]

i hate it. its full of middle class fools wearing fishermen's pants with dreadlocks while spending mummy and daddy's cash

[terry57]

Don't kid yourself. KSR has its sexpats too, they just dress differently.

you are very right on that front mate,

but they are young guys picking up lovely girls for free.

aint no bar fines on the koh san road and one must respect that.

[terry57]

I have been hanging out in KSR for a longggggg time (way too long perhaps) have met all sorts from the friendly jovial to the crazy drunks...i quite enjoy khaosarn...in addition to everything others have mentioned...often i find young art students selling artsy tshirts, costume jewelry and the likes which are quite nice there

austin bar was good...but now theres something else there i think....

and terry that blues bar is my new fav hangout...have spent quite a number of friday nights there

but a few incidents that come to mind about KSR are:

yearssssssss ago I was with an aussie girl friend...this english guy starts talking to us...learns Im thai...so goes on to tell me....how he lovessssssssssss thailand....and that he had spent the past 2 weeks at that very same bar, lives in a guesthouse round the corner...and he absolutely LOVESSSSSSSSSSSSS thailand

the other were related event within weeks of each other where I had guys start talking to me in hebrew often at lava bar, but most recently an english guy at silk bar starts getting into conversation with me in hebrew too!! on switching to english they all tell me I look kinda jewish

so maybe thats where the interest comes from...or maybe its the other way around?

anyway. biggest advantage of KSR is I could almost walk to get there thats why Im there so often...friends that decide to go there or just drop by on some evening would call me up...find out if Im home and drag me out there so its kinda like the corner shop for me convenient

i must tell you MIG,

we must have a drink, but im leaving on monday so ill catch you in may.

cheers terry

ps, say hello to my favorite girl georgia, at "ad 13th" for me.

[ourmanflint]

Are we all talking about the same place here... pain in the *ss to get to or from, full of people getting their hair braided and growing beards?

What an absolute shocking dump of a place, everything is more expensive there, who said it was cheaper... the people running some of the businesses there are the rudest I've met in Thailand, I shudder everytime one of my friends stays there and I have to visit. I came to Thailand for a reason and I don't think they are there. ( and neither are they at soi nana wise *ss! ) Each to their own though!

[tutsiwarrior]

a couple of folks have mentioned the availability of used books down the KSR. I've got a load of once-handled paperbacks and would like to find a place with a good trade/swap/credit policy. Anyone got any info on specific used book shops down that way please PM...

oh, yeah...I would prefer to do business with a respectable english chap that would offer me a cup of tea...not some rude, thai rip off merchant...

Edited December 15, 2006 by tutsiwarrior

[terry57]

Are we all talking about the same place here... pain in the *ss to get to or from, full of people getting their hair braided and growing beards?

What an absolute shocking dump of a place, everything is more expensive there, who said it was cheaper... the people running some of the businesses there are the rudest I've met in Thailand, I shudder everytime one of my friends stays there and I have to visit. I came to Thailand for a reason and I don't think they are there. ( and neither are they at soi nana wise *ss! ) Each to their own though!

yes you said it mate,

each to there own, we like it and thats all that matters.

you dont have to come here, but a <deleted> load of people love the area and thats all that matters.

each to there own.

cheers

[MiG16]

i must tell you MIG,

we must have a drink, but im leaving on monday so ill catch you in may.

terry...i leave before you

but I suppose Im also back before you

unless its really an emergency....Im hoping to be staying home...or atleast NOT having a big night tomorrow i hate early sunday morning start

but yeh sure lemme know what you get up to in may...im sure our mutual friend fawny will wanna 'crash' the party too right fawny??

[terry57]

i must tell you MIG,

we must have a drink, but im leaving on monday so ill catch you in may.

terry...i leave before you

but I suppose Im also back before you

unless its really an emergency....Im hoping to be staying home...or atleast NOT having a big night tomorrow i hate early sunday morning start

but yeh sure lemme know what you get up to in may...im sure our mutual friend fawny will wanna 'crash' the party too right fawny??

you know where i'll be tomorrow night MIG, come along for a quiet one.

cheers

[Ulysses G.]

a couple of folks have mentioned the availability of used books down the KSR. I've got a load of once-handled paperbacks and would like to find a place with a good trade/swap/credit policy. Anyone got any info on specific used book shops down that way please PM...

oh, yeah...I would prefer to do business with a respectable english chap that would offer me a cup of tea...not some rude, thai rip off merchant...

Kao San Road is a complete rip-off for selling used books as is Bangkok in general. No matter how good your books are, you will be lucky to get cab fare home. They have TONS of suckers trying to get rid of old books all of the time and it is a sellers market.

Elite Used Books, near the Emporium is better than KSR, but going somewhere like Chiang Mai is the best for cash. There aren't so many people trying to sell books there, so they pay much more.

The books have to be either very popular fiction or good non-fiction to get any real money however. The book shops are swamped with people trying to get rid of old Grisham and Clancy and that type of thing, so you might as well just give them to a friend.

[qualtrough]

Don't kid yourself. KSR has its sexpats too, they just dress differently.

you are very right on that front mate,

but they are young guys picking up lovely girls for free.

aint no bar fines on the koh san road and one must respect that.

Terry57--I didn't mean to imply that the sexpat behavior is going on at Kaosan, only that more than a few of those same visitors also fit into that category when going off-site. My point being that the 'sexpats' that people find offensive are not confined to more well-heeled visitors who habit Patpong or the like.

I have on occasion enjoyed the people watching there. Recall getting a big kick out of one guy othewise dressed normally (for KSR) walking around barefoot midday.

[svenivan]

I don't like places where there are more tourists than Thai people. Like Khao San Road, Chiang Mai, Pai, Krabi, Phuket etc etc.

:D

[tutsiwarrior]

a couple of folks have mentioned the availability of used books down the KSR. I've got a load of once-handled paperbacks and would like to find a place with a good trade/swap/credit policy. Anyone got any info on specific used book shops down that way please PM...

oh, yeah...I would prefer to do business with a respectable english chap that would offer me a cup of tea...not some rude, thai rip off merchant...

Kao San Road is a complete rip-off for selling used books as is Bangkok in general. No matter how good your books are, you will be lucky to get cab fare home. They have TONS of suckers trying to get rid of old books all of the time and it is a sellers market.

Elite Used Books, near the Emporium is better than KSR, but going somewhere like Chiang Mai is the best for cash. There aren't so many people trying to sell books there, so they pay much more.

The books have to be either very popular fiction or good non-fiction to get any real money however. The book shops are swamped with people trying to get rid of old Grisham and Clancy and that type of thing, so you might as well just give them to a friend.

I got 'quality' stuff like VS Naipul, Nick Hornby, Roddy Doyle, Ruth Rendell, Ian McEwan, etc and was hoping to get a reasonable deal on swap/trade/credit, however if that Grisham and Clancy garbage is all KSR has to bargain with I'll look elsewhere. Maybe a good excuse for a visit to CM...Thanks

[Sophon]

Kao San Road is a complete rip-off for selling used books as is Bangkok in general. No matter how good your books are, you will be lucky to get cab fare home. They have TONS of suckers trying to get rid of old books all of the time and it is a sellers market.

Wouldn't that make it a buyers market?

Sophon

[pampal]

Kao San Road is a complete rip-off for selling used books as is Bangkok in general. No matter how good your books are, you will be lucky to get cab fare home. They have TONS of suckers trying to get rid of old books all of the time and it is a sellers market.

Wouldn't that make it a buyers market?

Sophon

Exactly

[Ulysses G.]

Kao San Road is a complete rip-off for selling used books as is Bangkok in general. No matter how good your books are, you will be lucky to get cab fare home. They have TONS of suckers trying to get rid of old books all of the time and it is a sellers market.

Wouldn't that make it a buyers market?

Sophon

Sorry, I meant seller's market as in Book Seller's market; In Bangkok, they buy the books for next to nothing and sell them for a HIGH price!

[Ulysses G.]

a couple of folks have mentioned the availability of used books down the KSR. I've got a load of once-handled paperbacks and would like to find a place with a good trade/swap/credit policy. Anyone got any info on specific used book shops down that way please PM...

oh, yeah...I would prefer to do business with a respectable english chap that would offer me a cup of tea...not some rude, thai rip off merchant...

Kao San Road is a complete rip-off for selling used books as is Bangkok in general. No matter how good your books are, you will be lucky to get cab fare home. They have TONS of suckers trying to get rid of old books all of the time and it is a sellers market.

Elite Used Books, near the Emporium is better than KSR, but going somewhere like Chiang Mai is the best for cash. There aren't so many people trying to sell books there, so they pay much more.

The books have to be either very popular fiction or good non-fiction to get any real money however. The book shops are swamped with people trying to get rid of old Grisham and Clancy and that type of thing, so you might as well just give them to a friend.

I got 'quality' stuff like VS Naipul, Nick Hornby, Roddy Doyle, Ruth Rendell, Ian McEwan, etc and was hoping to get a reasonable deal on swap/trade/credit, however if that Grisham and Clancy garbage is all KSR has to bargain with I'll look elsewhere. Maybe a good excuse for a visit to CM...Thanks

Those are quality books (but Rendell titles are quite common and don't sell for much). What kind of condition are they in?

I suggest that you go to Gecko Books main branch in Chiang Mai ( www. geckobooks.net ) and tell the girls that your books are from 'tutsiwarrior' and to have the boss look at them. You will get the best price possible as you will be dealing with a long-time fan of your posts on Thai Visa.com!

[tutsiwarrior]

a couple of folks have mentioned the availability of used books down the KSR. I've got a load of once-handled paperbacks and would like to find a place with a good trade/swap/credit policy. Anyone got any info on specific used book shops down that way please PM...

oh, yeah...I would prefer to do business with a respectable english chap that would offer me a cup of tea...not some rude, thai rip off merchant...

Kao San Road is a complete rip-off for selling used books as is Bangkok in general. No matter how good your books are, you will be lucky to get cab fare home. They have TONS of suckers trying to get rid of old books all of the time and it is a sellers market.

Elite Used Books, near the Emporium is better than KSR, but going somewhere like Chiang Mai is the best for cash. There aren't so many people trying to sell books there, so they pay much more.

The books have to be either very popular fiction or good non-fiction to get any real money however. The book shops are swamped with people trying to get rid of old Grisham and Clancy and that type of thing, so you might as well just give them to a friend.

I got 'quality' stuff like VS Naipul, Nick Hornby, Roddy Doyle, Ruth Rendell, Ian McEwan, etc and was hoping to get a reasonable deal on swap/trade/credit, however if that Grisham and Clancy garbage is all KSR has to bargain with I'll look elsewhere. Maybe a good excuse for a visit to CM...Thanks

Those are quality books (but Rendell titles are quite common and don't sell for much). What kind of condition are they in?

I suggest that you go to Gecko Books main branch in Chiang Mai ( www. geckobooks.net ) and tell the girls that your books are from 'tutsiwarrior' and to have the boss look at them. You will get the best price possible as you will be dealing with a long-time fan of your posts on Thai Visa.com!

thanks UG...I'll follow it up. Most of what I got were only handled once, either bought at Asia Books or at Heathrow...I got some Ngaio Marsh that I bought 2nd hand but still in good condition....mostly entertaining reads...cheers...

Edited December 17, 2006 by tutsiwarrior

[Jockstar]

I like KSR. Have been going there for years. My ex girlfriend used to work at the Khao San Centre promoting beer. So i was there most Fridays and Saturdays. I'd meet friends there and get on the piss till the ex finished then we would all go out. Split up with the ex a few years ago now. She doesnt work there anymore. But i still know alot of the staff. So when the Irish Bar opened upstairs some staff started working upstairs as its the same owners. I am always looked after in the restaurant and the bar. As for other parts of KSR. I hate Lava. Overpriced and <deleted> music. Gullivers. Just another pub. KSR has changed so much in the last 6 years that i have been going there. I did still go there now and again in the lsat few years. But for now i'm in Oz. But when we go back to LOS for a holiday in 2 years. We will visit Khao San. If you dont like it. Simple. Don't go.

BTW if you do a search there was a very long thread about backpackers started by DJ Pat a few years ago. He would write about KSR and the backpackers there.

[leftcross]

it is funny though when people say KSR is cheaper than anywhere else. the food is at least double the prices of places in thai areas.

[dantilley]

Farrang food isn't though, some of it is quite competitively priced. Beer's also pretty cheap.

Food's mostly pretty <deleted> though, it has to be said. There's only one half decent Thai restaurant that I've ever found, Ton Yum Kung up near the police station end.

That said, many good nights can be had up there, especially at Songkran.

[Jonson83]

True,the food is expensive by thai standards for sure!

I really don't like the place,stayed their quite a bit aswell.Only used to go their as it was easy to get a room(normally!),book train tickets to chiang mai..then get the hel_l out of their!

One plus about the place though.As someone already pointed out,there is a real shortage of sexpats about

Still,i won't be staying their when i return to LOS.

[robert2]

Visiting KSR in 1999 was different than now.

I think it's a great place for people watching.

The main attraction is that it's a combined meeting place, travel hub and a "link to home" for backpacker farangs.

They got a taste of home now, a Burger King.

My thai ex-gf who's been there a lot thinks it's a crap place, she thinks it's like a "farang zoo".

She hates Burger King too...

[Cpt_M0ney_Sh0t]

The only time I go there is on Song Krong with duel Super Soakers and wet everyone up. Other than that, I find KSR to be something of a cess filter for farang in BKK, catching all the scuzzy, broke ass, back packers, and greedy, trifling israelis. It thankfully dose us all a favor by keeping them from spreading around the city as a whole. 3 cheers for KSR! I hate the place but I am VERY glad it's there.

[tutsiwarrior]

Visiting KSR in 1999 was different than now.

I think it's a great place for people watching.

The main attraction is that it's a combined meeting place, travel hub and a "link to home" for backpacker farangs.

They got a taste of home now, a Burger King.

My thai ex-gf who's been there a lot thinks it's a crap place, she thinks it's like a "farang zoo".

She hates Burger King too...

a Burger King?...now, something positive to be said about KSR...I'll have to check it out when I look over the crappy used books selection...

'hey, falang...you drip yo burger king all over my nice books...you buy or I kill you falang...'...later to set the wife and the nieces on him to sort the bastid out...with extreme prejudice...

Edited December 17, 2006 by tutsiwarrior

[Johpa]

I got 'quality' stuff like VS Naipul, Nick Hornby, Roddy Doyle, Ruth Rendell, Ian McEwan, etc and was hoping to get a reasonable deal on swap/trade/credit, however if that Grisham and Clancy garbage is all KSR has to bargain with I'll look elsewhere. Maybe a good excuse for a visit to CM...Thanks

I am so sorry, but it has been decades since there had been a market for "quality" books in travelers' bookstores in Southeast Asia. Young people don't seem to read much anymore as they look forward to watching the next video or plan their trip to the nearest "full moon party" to groove on those computerized techno drumbeats. Oh brave new world......

And yes, for my fellow middle-aged curmudgeons, KSR has some of the best international eye candy (ahaan taa for the Thai lurkers here) on the planet, with lots of bounce. And if they notice your a Farang who speaks Thai, well every once in awhile you can even get some young lady to acknowledge your existence on the same planet and engage you in conversation, which at my stage in life is equivalent to hitting the "home run".

[deon]

After walking up ,and down and up and down .That road and then up and down that road again ,with my other half i can say i cant stand the place lol .Though for some strange reason i always seem to end up there when ever i come to Thailand even though i cant stand the place .