Bangkok/Khao San Road

Khao San Road (Thai: ถนนข้าวสาร) is a small road about a block from the Chao Phraya River at the northern side of Rattanakosin. Backpackers and budget travellers are drawn here by some of the cheapest accommodation and travel deals in Thailand. This article also deals with the wider Banglamphu area that hosts a few interesting temples, and lots more places to stay and eat.

Understand
The word khao san means milled rice and is an attribution to the historical role of this street in the rice trade. The first business to open on Khao San Road was a small hotel aimed at serving civil servants from the provinces who came to Bangkok on business. The hotel was followed by Sor Thambhakdi, a shop selling monks' accessories. Four similar businesses moved in after, and Khao San became known as a "religious road".

Word soon spread about the easy lifestyle and friendliness of the locals. Friends told friends, and before long, the owner of the house started to charge 20 baht for food and lodging. The first commercial guest house, called Bonny, opened in 1982 with six small bedrooms.

Today, there's a lot more than six small bedrooms on offer. The hippy, laid-back, and budget Khao San Road of the past has long given away to its now highly commercial and tourist-centric atmosphere. This is the epicentre of the Banana Pancake Trail. In the span of just a couple of blocks, there are bars, food stalls, restaurants, convenience stores, pharmacies, internet cafes, money changing booths, ATMs, shoe stores, massage parlours, tailors, travel agencies, laundromats, boxing gyms, optometrists, endless warrens of suspiciously discounted designer clothes and, oh, rooms for the night.

The chaos has spilled over to the entire area, including Soi Rambuttri with its little bars and restaurants that are starting to spill out onto the road; Phra Athit Road with its colonial-style mansions and riverside hotels; and Samsen Road, a quiet neighbourhood with cosy guest houses and vegetarian restaurants. It is indeed a tourist destination and can be a little unsafe at night as instances of mugging and pick-pocketing do occur.

Get in
Khao San Road is fairly easy to get to from anywhere in Bangkok. Express boats, buses and taxis are your main options. While the Skytrain and the metro are convenient ways of getting to many places in Bangkok, there is no connection to Khao San Road (or to anywhere else in Rattanakosin, for that matter). While Khao San Road is easy to get into and out of, it is quite far (30–60 minutes) from most other areas tourists will travel to in Bangkok, such as Sukhumvit or Silom.

By boat
The Chao Phraya Express Boat is the cheapest and most scenic way of getting to Khao San Road. If you're coming from the city centre, take the Skytrain to Saphan Taksin station, where you can transfer onto the express boat at Sathorn pier. Then ride the express boat all the way north to Phra Arthit pier, which takes about 35 minutes and costs 13 to 18 baht. Make sure to get either the orange flag line or the blue flag tourist boat, as the yellow flag line skips Phra Arthit pier completely.

If you're staying in Khao San Road, the express boat is the easiest way to get to Rattanakosin and Silom. It's only a short (but confusing) walk from Khao San Road to Phra Arthit pier. First walk to the police station side of Khao San Road, then take a right onto Chakrabongse Road and immediately a left into Soi Rambuttri. Walk until you have to take a left and then take a right into Soi Chana Songkhram. At the end, take a right into Phra Athit Road, cross the road, and look for the small sign to the express boat pier (it is near Navalai River Resort). Bring a good map, have a good sense of direction, or ask help from a local if you get lost. The main idea is to head west until you hit the river.

The most important piers are Tha Chang (for the Grand Palace), Tha Tien (for Wat Pho) and Rachawongse (for Yaowarat). All lines attend Sathorn pier, where you can transfer onto the Skytrain. From here, you can go to Silom, Siam Square, Sukhumvit and Phahonyothin. The Chao Phraya Express Boat stops running around 18:00 or 19:00 depending on the day, so you'll have to rely on other forms of transport in the evening.

The quickest (though not the most comfortable) way to get from Khao San Road to Siam Square, Sukhumvit and Ramkhamhaeng is by Saen Saep Express Boat. The closest pier to Khao San Road is Panfa Leelard, which is near the Golden Mount and Wat Ratchanadda. There you can get on the Golden Mount Line, which is a direct boat service from Panfa Leelard to Pratunam. At that pier you can switch onto the NIDA Line, that runs from Pratunam all the way northeast to Wat Sriboonreung in Ramkhamhaeng. A single trip from Panfa Leelard to Pratunam takes about 20 minutes and costs 11 baht. On the trip, you will pass the stops Talat Bobae (for the garment market of the same name), Sapan Charoenpol, Baan Krua Nua (for Jim Thompson's House), Sapan Hua Chang (for Siam Square) and Pratunam (for Pratunam and Ratchaprasong).

By bus
The bus system in Bangkok is very complex, but as Khao San Road is not connected to the Skytrain, for some destinations you don't have a choice. Some useful bus lines for travel to/from Khao San Road include the following:


 * Ordinary bus 2 goes from Sukhumvit Road to Sanam Luang, and passes Ratchdamnoen Klang Road on the way, which is very close to Khao San Road. The route is handy for connections to the Skytrain, the metro and the Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekkamai), and it passes Pratunam on the way. 6-7 baht.
 * Ordinary and air-conditioned bus 3 goes to the Northern Bus Terminal (Mo Chit) and passes by Chakrabongse Road (at the western side of Khao San Road). The trip costs 7 baht and takes approximately 30 minutes.
 * Ordinary bus 15 takes you from Ratchadamnoen Klang Road (near Khao San Road) to Siam Square.
 * Ordinary bus 53 goes from Phra Athit Road near the express boat pier to Hualamphong Train Station, taking an interesting and convoluted route through Rattanakosin and Yaowarat. It costs 7 baht and takes 30 minutes or more depending on traffic.
 * Air-conditioned bus 511 travels right across the city from the Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekkamai) via Sukhumvit and Ratchadamnoen Klang Road (near Khao San Road) to the Southern Bus Terminal (Sai Tai). Warning: Ordinary (non-express) buses pass by Ratchdamnoen Klang Road, but express buses (with yellow signs) do not!
 * Air-conditioned bus 509 travels from Mor Chit Bus Terminal, passing through Victory Monument (BTS) and Ratchadamnoen Klang Road (near Khao San Road), terminating at Bang Khae (in Thonburi).
 * Air-conditioned buses 127 and 516 go to Southern Bus Terminal (for a fare about THB 15) from (in front of the Bononniwet temple).

From airports

The Airport Express Bus began running again in 2017.

Suvarnabhumi Airport: The S1 number bus departs from Gate 7 on the first floor of the passenger terminal every half an hour between 06:00 and 20:00 and costs 60 baht. The final stop is outside Wat Bowonniwet (Temple) and the journey takes around one hour (buses depart for the airport from the same location).

Don Muang Airport: The A4 number bus departs from Gate 6 at Terminal 1 and Gate 12 at Terminal 2 every half an hour between 07:00 and 23:00 and costs 50 baht. The final stop is outside Wat Bowonniwet (Temple) and the journey takes just under one hour (buses depart for the airport from the same location).

Another, cheap (although more complicated) option is to use a local bus to get to Khao San Road. From the airport, catch the shuttle bus for free outside door 5 (on both the upper and lower floors) to the Public Transport Interchange. From there, catch bus 551 (a white van) which will drop you off at Victory Monument for 40 baht. Then take bus 59 and get off about halfway between Khao San Road and the Democracy Monument. To get to the airport, catch bus 59, which departs from Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, about halfway between Khao San Road and the Democracy Monument (look for the half-torn airplane sign on the bus stop sign). It will drop you off at Victory Monument, from where you can catch bus 551 to the Public Transport Interchange. From there, it's just a short ride with the free shuttle bus to the terminals.

Khao San Road is also the stop for some long range tourist buses from Chang Mai, Southern islands, elsewhere in Thailand, and from Siem Reap, Cambodia.

By taxi
Even some of the metered taxis will try to charge you a flat rate of about 200-300 baht to take you to Khao San Road, rather than use the meter (which would mean no more than an 80 baht fare from Silom, or 100-150 baht from Sukhumvit, or about 60 - 80 baht from Hualamphong Train Station). The drivers will claim that Khao San Road is "too far away" for the meter, but that's not true; the fact is, they can get away with overcharging tourists, and if you don't take it, the next one down the street might. You should refuse to pay that amount and find an honest driver — there is no shortage of taxis in Bangkok. There is no point trying to haggle, as the meter is always cheaper.

As a general rule, older drivers tend to be more amenable to the meters, while the younger ones tend to gun for big fares from tourists. Also avoid the parked taxis (dishonest drivers prefer to wait for gullible tourists) and hail a moving taxi (a red light on the dash board indicates if they are available). The majority of taxis are new (less than two years old), and its best to avoid the older taxis as their air-conditioners function poorly, and these drivers tend to be less reliable. The great majority of taxi drivers are reasonably honest though, so always opt for a taxi instead of a tuk-tuk.

Coming to or from the airports, a taxi is by far the easiest and quickest way to Khao San Road. A metered taxi should cost between 300-450 baht, if using the toll roads (known by Thais as toll way) which cost up to 65 baht. Traffic during the day can make the toll roads very worthwhile, as they will save time and money. The trip takes around 45 minutes in good traffic, but allow considerable leeway during rush hour as the area around Khao San can get very congested. If you arrive after midnight, expect to pay around 500 baht. This 500 baht includes all tolls, the airport fee of 50 baht and the price stated on the meter. Taxis are your only option at night, as the Airport Rail Link stops running at midnight.

From the Southern Bus Terminal the fare (including 50 baht for the toll road) is around 110 baht.

See


Although there aren't any famous historical sites to speak of on the road, Khao San is a part of Rattanakosin and actually one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Bangkok. Around the street, there are a number of old shophouses and noteworthy temples. Aside from the interesting architecture, the area shows a mix of peoples and heritages that is typical for Bangkok. There are Buddhists, Chinese, Muslims, Mons, and of course a great number of foreigners in this small part of the city. All of this makes the area an interesting place for a glimpse of Thai life.



Do
Activities on Khao San Road are not particularly high class. Many backpackers just chill out in a cafe and watch reruns of Friends while sipping a cold Chang beer. People-watching is also a major activity: this can be done in many roadside bars and pubs along Khao San Road. When all this becomes too stressful, there are plenty of massage parlours around.

Buy
Obviously the first place to go shopping is Khao San Road itself. Simple stores line up the street selling dresses, shirts, skirts, accessories, shoes, and bags, usually for a bargain. Many of these are vintage, as that's popular among the Khao San crowd. There are also the usual souvenir and handicraft stores.

Hill tribe women dressed in ethnic clothing walk up and down Khao San Road all day, usually with the croaking sounds that come from their ornamental frogs. They approach tourists all day, trying to sell them accessories, hammocks and ethnic handicrafts. They are quite friendly, and back off with a clear "no", but once they know you're interested, many of these sellers congregate around you hoping to make some profit.

Always beware of getting ripped off. Never buy anything valuable in this area as there are many scams and tricks being played. Khao San Road is home to many wholesale silver jewellery stores, but don't even think about buying there. A common scam is to ask a lot more for a gem than its real value. Touts for suits approach men walking along Khao San Road, but never go with them — getting tailored clothes in Khao San Road is a complete waste of money as quality is extremely poor. If you really want a suit, head to the city centre for better alternatives.

Other problematic products for sale include counterfeit clothes, pirated films and even fake diplomas. The authorities here don't seem to care, but you might get in trouble once you arrive in your home country. The north of Khao San Road is a good place to pick up cheap Thai knock-offs of everything, from jeans to Italian sneakers, as well as a few posh Thai silk stores. Food stalls are also abound in this area.

Books
With most travellers carrying smart phones and ipads, the once thriving second hand book scene around Khao San has all but been eliminated. However, there are still two bookstores in the area that are worth checking out: one on Susie's Walkway, which runs between Khao San and Ram Buttri Roads, and one on Ram Buttri Road, above Chakrabongse Road.

Eat
Khao San Road offers some of the cheapest and most diverse food selections anywhere in Bangkok. Travellers from all over the world attend the road, so there is a high demand for all kinds of ethnic food. Alongside the usual Thai dishes, Indian, Italian and Jewish cuisine are especially well-represented, as are restaurants specialised in vegetarian food.

Street carts on the road sell decent pad thai (fried noodles), quail eggs, roti (like a pancake), falafel, hummus, various bugs and some sell just cocktails. However, much of it is specifically geared for backpackers — even the local pad thai, especially the 10-baht variety, saves money on the ingredients and uses soy sauce instead of the traditional tamarind sauce.

As Khao San Road leaves its backpacker roots, standards (and prices) are rising. In the last ten years, many popular international food outlets have set up branches in Khao San Road, including Burger King, McDonald's and Subway. More mid-range restaurants are opened on a daily basis, but don't expect to splurge. Those looking for truly good food should to head elsewhere, such as to Sukhumvit.

Budget




Coffee
Despite primarily hosting people from coffee-drinking cultures, Khao San Road and its peripheries are totally bereft of cafes, and the few that are scattered around the area are not memorable or iconic in any sense. Phra Athit Road probably has the highest concentration in the area, though these cafes are mostly small, offering just coffee and limited snack options.



Alcohol
Khao San Road has some of the cheapest bars in town, and these days even Thais head down to knock back a few. Khao San bars are mostly about relaxing — just sitting outside, looking at people and enjoying the atmosphere. Some just walk around with a beer in their hand. A can of Chang beer is 25 baht at 7-Eleven. Worth a look are a few street side VW vans converted to mobile bars, serving cocktails made from cheap liquor.

The tourist crowd has spread to both Soi Rambuttri and Rambuttri Road in the north. Both of them have a relaxed pace great for people-watching. The bars have many seats lined up along the road and the music is slightly toned down for casual conversation. If you want to go where the locals go, there are some artsy/indie bars at Phra Athit Road and Ratchadamnoen Klang Road popular with local art students.







Nightclubs
Bangkok's nightlife has a difficult time living up to its notorious reputation — and Khao San Road in particular. While many roadside bars are open 24 hours, nightclubs close at 02:00. Always bring your passport as all nightclubs are required to check it upon entry. Mostly the backpacker/hippie crowd, so shorts and flip flips abound. If you want to see the classier crowd, you will need to leave Khaosan road. Take a taxi to Route 66 on Royal City Avenue(RCA) or Funky Villa in the Thonglo district instead.



Sleep
Khao San Road is Bangkok's main backpacker drag. Cheap new guest houses spring up and disappear on a monthly basis, therefore accommodation is hard to recommend, but there is always something available for a small budget. As hipsters and upper class folks have been starting to discover the road, it is more and more becoming an area that has accommodations for every price class.

Before checking into an unfamiliar place, always ask to see a room first, and don't be afraid to test the fan or the air-conditioning if you think you will need it. Some Khao San Road guest houses do not accept Thai guests, or any extra guests at all in some cases.

Budget
Most backpackers head straight for Khao San Road as it has the cheapest accommodation in all of Bangkok. Don't have high hopes on luxury if you're staying here. Most of these places are dark, dingy, unclean and if you're unlucky, you might have to spend the night with bedbugs. Any lodging on Khao San Road will be loud, and anything with exterior windows will get hot.

Try walking a block or two off Khao San proper to find something a little quieter. Soi Rambuttri, the small street past the police station, has reasonable guest houses, though can still be loud in the evenings. The street gets darker and quieter as it wraps around the temple grounds of Wat Chana Songkhram, where you can find some quiet guest houses. Samsen Road and the surrounding area is another escape from the noise and chaos with cheap guest houses at a further distance of the action.





Mid-range
There are several mid-range hotels in the area, with swimming pools, mini bars, etc. Mid-range covers a wide spectrum, from decent three-star hotels to upper class guest houses. Phra Athit Road is a good place to start looking, its location right beside the Chao Phraya River made it home to some more luxurious hotels.



Cope
There are plenty of places around Khao San that do your laundry. The general tariff is around 25-40 baht per kilo, and it's ready to be picked up the next day. Look around, as some laundromats even offer same-day pickup if you bring it in before 15:00. The Rambuttri Village Inn offers luggage storage for 20 baht per day.

If you don't stay at the road, toilets can be difficult to find. There is a reasonably clean one inside Buddy's Shopping Plaza — walk all the way in and take a right before entering Brick Bar. Price is 5 baht, but there are long queues at busy nights. Another public toilet can be found all the way inside Sunset Street, passing Starbucks on the left. Entry 5 baht. You can also try Burger King at the eastern end of the road.

Stay safe


Khao San Road is the worst district in Bangkok when it comes to scams and annoyances. Be very skeptical of anyone telling you that your intended destination is closed. If someone offers you a free whole-day tuk-tuk ride, smile faintly and keep on walking. If you agree to this, you probably will get a free tuk-tuk ride all day, but the only thing you will see are dozens of shops where you get tricked into buying worthless gems, while the driver gets a commission. Never enter a tuk-tuk if someone else is trying to get you into one. A recent scam involves cheap transport offers to discos, massage parlours etc. late at night. The unwary who take up these offers will find themselves dropped off on a quiet street (shortcut), where the tuk-tuk has accomplices waiting to assault and rob any gullible tourists. Better pull over a taxi yourself.

Beware of private bus companies around Khao San Road offering direct trips from Bangkok to other cities with "VIP buses". Some are reputable and will be able to provide you with a great deal, but many of them are shopfronts for scam artists and dodgy services. The so-called direct "VIP" trips may end up changing three or four uncomfortable minibuses to the destination, and the 10-11 hour trip may as well turn into 17–18 hours. Also, you are likely to be hit for extra charges for various dubious services along the way and many operators will intentionally slow down the journey so you arrive in the middle of the night and can be coaxed into choosing their guest house — invariably the crappiest place, but pays the agency the highest commissions. Worst of all, since you have paid in advance, you have no recourse of any kind when this happens. Trips to Siem Reap in Cambodia are notorious for this. You can ask around Khao San Road, as a lot of people start and end their journeys there, and use an agent which another traveller has used without any hassles. But it is probably a better idea to do the trips independently using public BKS buses from the main bus terminals.

Beware of the travel agent shops throughout Bangkok offering travel packages; day trips, and tickets to tourists attractions. Often you will be taken to one of these travel agent shops as a stop on a tuk-tuk ride but do not purchase anything from these shops as they are not regulated in anyway, do not be fooled by the 'certificates' and stamps of approval as all the shops easily forge such documents. The scammers are professionals at persuading you to believe that they are the cheaper than doing it off your own back but this is not true. South-East Asia is one of the only places in the world that it is actually effective to travel as you go, which is why large travel companies such as STA Travel do not find it worth while investing in packages in Thailand, they only offer flights and upper market hotels because it is cheaper to book accommodation, domestic travel and tourist attractions on your own and from the hostels, train stations, and tourist attractions respectively. A common trick to sell you the package they want is to tell you that some islands are full of wild animals at a certain time of year or that boats do not go to these specific destinations. Please do not be fooled, almost all of your holiday preparation can be done from reading articles at home, these tourist shops can sell within their own network and you will end up in the worst locations in terms of accommodation.

The police station, at the western end of Khao San Road, could be a valuable resource for travellers in trouble. However, extreme caution should be exercised when asking them for advice with regards to booking tickets — they will often arrange a tuk-tuk to an "approved agency" for you (which seems great and normally a better deal than you would be able to arrange), but the prices offered by the agency they send you to may be 2-3 times the price you could get elsewhere. Often, the tuk-tuk driver, on seeing you come out of the first agency without having bought a ticket, will take you to a second agency "...for no extra..." only to have the same or similar price quoted.

Be sure to read the Stay safe section of the main Bangkok article for other scams you should look out for.

Connect
Internet cafes are rivaled only by tuk-tuks for sheer ubiquity on Khao San Road. Almost any guest house has at least some form of internet available. has three computers set up that cost 10 baht for 15 minutes of surfing. It is a short walk through an alley in the middle of Khao San Road. The standard rate in the area is about 1 baht for 1 minute. Virtually all are set up for Skype and plain old international phone calls. Be aware that some cafes have applied limitations on their terminals, such as on printing documents and saving digital files — check whether this is the case before paying for it.

You can send (and even receive) post at one of the area's two post offices. is a short walk through the alley behind Burger King. is not far either; it's in front of Wat Bowonniwet. From the eastern side of Khao San Road, just follow Tanao Road in northwards direction and take a right at the roundabout.

Go next
Famous sites within walking distance from Khao San Road include the Grand Palace (with Wat Phra Kaeo), Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Sanam Luang, Wat Ratchanaddaram and the Golden Mount. See Rattanakosin for details. There are also some more adventurous options:


 * If you're up for a fun walk, hike to the Royal Barges National Museum at the other side of the river in Thonburi. The walking tour goes over the Pinklao Bridge, through a typical folk neighbourhood (follow the signs) and ends with the royal barges.
 * Only on weekends, the Taling Chan Floating Market in Thonburi can be reached by bus 79 from Ratchadamnoen Klang Road. Ask a local where to get off or you might get lost.