Khaosan Road is located in the Banglamphu neighbourhood in Phra Nakhon district. It is about 1 km north from the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. It is known as the Backpackers Ghetto because it has relatively cheap accommodation compared to other areas of central Bangkok. The accommodation varies from 'mattress in a box' style hostels, to full Western-standard luxury.
Many tourists use Khaosan road as their base for exploring the rest of Thailand as there are many direct coaches from the street to virtually all major tourist destinations in Thailand. In addition, many tourists will also take advantage of the abundance of relatively cheap travel agents to arrange visas and transport to surrounding countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia.
Crafts, paintings, clothes, pirated CDs, DVDs, fake educational diplomas, fake driver's licenses, food, second hand books and many other items are among the common goods traded along the road. 
Khao San Road offers one of the most diverse food selections anywhere in Bangkok. Since the street sees such a varied nationality of travelers, several ethnic foods can be found here. Street carts that line Khao San Road sell decent phat thai (fried noodles), quail eggs, roti (like a pancake), falafel, hummus, various bugs and some sell just cocktails. 
Khaosan road has in recent years also become popular among local people, especially artists and art students. The road hosts a number of pubs and bars, where people of many nationalities meet and discuss their travels. Khaosan and the streets nearby are also Bangkok's center of dancing, partying and splashing water during Song Kran Festival on April 13 to April 15. 
How to get there: Khao San Road is fairly easy to get to from anywhere in Bangkok. Taxis, buses, and river ferry are your main options. While the metro and the skytrain are convenient ways of getting to many places in Bangkok, there is unfortunately no train (yet) that will take you near Khao San Road (or anywhere else on Rattanakosin Island, for that matter).
By Bus:
- Red Bus 2 goes from Sukhumvit Rd to Sanam Luang (Ratchdamnoen Klang Rd), very close to Khao San Road. The route is handy for connections to the Skytrain, the MRT and the Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekkamai), and it passes Pantip Plaza(computer hardware and software center) on the way. 7 baht.
- Red Bus 3, from Moh Chit (the Northern Bus Terminal) directly to Khao San Road. 7 baht, approx. 30 minutes.
- Red Bus 15 will take you from Khao San Road to Siam Square.
- Aircon Bus 511 travels right across the city from the Eastern Bus Terminal via Sukhumvit and the Democracy Monument to the Southern Bus Terminal. Warning: Regular (non-express) buses pass by Ratchdamnoen Klang Rd near Khao San, but express buses (with yellow signs) do not!
- Red Bus 3, from Moh Chit (the Northern Bus Terminal) directly to Khao San Road. 7 baht, approx. 30 minutes.
- Red Bus 15 will take you from Khao San Road to Siam Square.
- Aircon Bus 511 travels right across the city from the Eastern Bus Terminal via Sukhumvit and the Democracy Monument to the Southern Bus Terminal. Warning: Regular (non-express) buses pass by Ratchdamnoen Klang Rd near Khao San, but express buses (with yellow signs) do not!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment