Julie & Chris' Asian Adventures: Khao San Road, Bangkok's party street

After a week in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok, we went to meet up with friends down Khao San Road. There is no metro connection to Khao San Road but you can go with the taxi boats, public bus or taxi.

Khao San is the famous backpacking district in Bangkok. It is very busy and unfortunately has gotten more expensive over the years. It is the inevitable area you end up in when you have friends visiting the capital. Over a couple of blocks, you find bars, food stalls, restaurants, shops, ATMs, massage parlours, tailor shops, laundry, guest houses and hotels. Since Khao San is not that cheap anymore, I prefer wandering towards Soi Rambuttri, a small street parallel with bars and restaurants that spread onto the sidewalk.

Hotels appear and disappear frequently in the area, but there are more than enough options for all budgets. We tend to go back to Khaosan Palace, right in the middle of Khao San Road. It is a basic guest house but it has clean rooms and a small rooftop pool. There is cable TV and decent air-con rooms. When looking for a room, a rule of thumb would be to always check the room first as many places are dingy and unclean. Consider the location of your room as if it’s facing Khao San, you won’t have a quiet night. Music plays until 2:30am and the festivities on the street won’t stop for another couple of hours after that.

For anyone who hasn’t been, a night on Khan San Road may include: excessive drinking; meeting fellow travelers, young or old; eating strange creatures such as grasshoppers or scorpions; buying bracelets with rude phrases or other ridiculous souvenirs; eating 30 baht pad thais; smoking apple-flavoured shisha; dancing on the street; buying a beer singlet.

Chok dee!