Khaosan Road

File:2016 Bangkok, Dystrykt Phra Nakhon, Ulica Khaosan (10).jpg

"Khaosan" translates as 'milled rice', an indication that in former times the street was a major Bangkok rice market. However, according to historical documentary evidence from the time the road was first completed in the reign of Rama V, it was found that no one living here worked in the rice trade. Therefore, it is assumed that the rice trade probably began in the early Rattanakosin period, which is during the reigns of Rama I to Rama III.{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/bangkokcitylibrary/videos/483138824759914|work=Facebook|date=2024-11-13|accessdate=2024-11-10|title=#liveสด งานเสวนาเขตคลองมองเมือง โดย ดร.รัชดา โชติพานิช #หอสมุดเมืองกรุงเทพมหานคร|author=Bangkok City Library|language=thai}} In the last 40 years, Khaosan Road has developed into a world-famous "backpacker ghetto".{{Cite journal|last=Sørensen|first=Anders|date=2003-10-01|title=Backpacker ethnography|journal=Annals of Tourism Research|volume=30|issue=4|pages=847–867|doi=10.1016/S0160-7383(03)00063-X}}{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iV2UDJNyGkYC|title=The Global Nomad: Backpacker Travel in Theory and Practice|last1=Richards|first1=Greg|last2=Wilson|first2=Julie|date=2004-01-01|publisher=Channel View Publications|isbn=9781873150764|language=en|chapter=15}} It offers cheap accommodation, ranging from "mattress in a box"-style hotels to reasonably priced three-star hotels. In an essay on the backpacker culture of Khaosan Road, Susan Orlean called it "the place to disappear".Susan Orlean, "The Place to Disappear", in The Best American Travel Writing 2001, Jason Wilson and Paul Theroux, eds. (Mariner Books, 2001), pp. 228–237. According to the Khao San Business Association, the road sees 40,000–50,000 tourists per day in the high season, and 20,000 per day in the low season.

Visitors to Khao San Road are diverse:

{{Quote|text=In this small area one can observe the interactions and groupings of disparate characters such as un-educated young Westerners on extended leave from affluent society, high school graduates on gap year travels, Israelis fresh out of military service, university students on holiday or sabbatical leave, young Japanese in rite-of-passage attire, ordinary holidaymakers, (ex-) volunteers from various organizations, and the like.|sign=Anders Sørensen|source=Annals of Tourism Research}}

It is also a base for travel: coaches leave daily for all major tourist destinations in Thailand, from Chiang Mai in the north to

Ko Pha-ngan in the south, and there are many relatively inexpensive travel agents who can arrange visas and transportation to the neighbouring countries of Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Vietnam.{{cite news |last1=Cummings |first1=Joe |title=How Bangkok's Khao San Road evolved from a rice market into the world's most famous travel hub |url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/bangkok-khao-san-road-evolution/index.html |access-date=31 January 2021 |work=CNN |date=29 January 2021}}

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Khaosan shops sell handicrafts, paintings, clothes, local fruits, unlicensed CDs, DVDs, a wide range of fake IDs, used books, and other useful backpacker items.{{Cite news|url=http://www.bangkok.com/area-khao-san-road/shopping.htm|title=Khao San Road Shopping - Where to Shop and What to Buy in Khao San Road|newspaper=bangkok.com|access-date=2016-12-11}} After dark, bars open, music is played, food hawkers sell barbecued insects and other exotic snacks for tourists,{{Cite news|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/vdo/travel/441361/khao-san-road-backpackers-haven|title=Khao San Road - Backpackers' haven|work=Bangkok Post|access-date=2016-12-11|type=Video}} and touts promote ping pong shows.{{Cite web|url=https://foodfuntravel.com/can-see-ping-pong-shows-bangkok-update/|title=Where Can I See Ping Pong Shows in Bangkok? - Update|date=2017-03-18|website=Food Fun Travel Blog|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-24}}

The area is internationally known as a center of dancing, partying, and just prior to the traditional Thai New Year (Songkran festival) of 13–15 April, water splashing that usually turns into a huge water fight.{{Cite web|url=http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2016/04/08/khao-san-songkran-shortened-2-days-save-water|title=Khao San Songkran shortened to 2 days to save water|date=2016-04-08|website=Coconuts Bangkok|access-date=2016-12-11}} One Thai writer has described Khaosan as "...a short road that has the longest dream in the world".{{cite web|url=http://www.th4u.com/khaosan_road.htm |title=Literal Backpacker's Mecca in Bangkok Khao San Road|website=Thailand for You|access-date=2015-09-07}}

A Buddhist temple under royal patronage, the centuries-old Wat Chana Songkram, is directly opposite Khaosan Road to the west, while the area to the northwest contains an Islamic community and several small mosques.{{Cite news|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/744768/|title=Bangkok's Islamic quarters|last=Mahavongtrakul|first=Melalin|date=2015-10-27|work=Bangkok Post|access-date=2016-12-11}}

According to those who have lived in Bang Lamphu for a long time, the first guest house on Khaosan Road opened around 1982 in a narrow trok (alley) connecting to Ratchadamnoen Avenue.

At that time, Khaosan Road was very quiet. On both sides of the street there were small shophouses, including beef noodle shops, grocery stores, Thai fabric shops, and 3–4 illegal snooker clubs where the clientele were mostly teenagers. There were also some were old houses belonging to the gentry.{{cite web|language=thai|date=2024-09-12|accessdate=2024-09-09|title=#2มุมข่าว (9 ก.ย.67)|url=https://www.facebook.com/mcotfm100.5/videos/1302353327403858|work=Facebook|author=MCOT News FM 100.5}}

In July 2018, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), in an attempt to clean up Khaosan Road, announced that street vendors would be removed from the thoroughfare from 1 August 2018. The BMA intended to move them to a nearby area and restrict their trading hours to 18:00 to midnight.{{cite news |last1=Ellis-Petersen |first1=Hannah |title='It's a shocking idea': outcry over Bangkok street vendor ban |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/04/bangkok-street-vendor-ban-prompts-outcry-thailand |access-date=5 August 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=4 August 2018}} The Khaosan Street Vendors Association, representing some 300 vendors, rejected the move, citing financial ruin for vendors.{{cite news |last1=Panyasuppakun |first1=Kornrawdee |title=Khaosan vendors call on BMA to scrap ban on pavement stalls |url=https://www.nationthailand.com/detail/national/30351079 |access-date=31 July 2018 |work=The Nation |date=31 July 2018}} Last-minute negotiations between the BMA and vendors proved fruitless as neither side was willing to compromise.{{cite news |title=City Hall to enforce footpath vending ban on Khao San Rd |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1513278/city-hall-to-enforce-footpath-vending-ban-on-khao-san-rd |access-date=31 July 2018 |work=Bangkok Post |date=31 July 2018}} Khaosan vendors announced that, in defiance of BMA order, they would be open as usual on 1 August.{{cite news |last1=Saksornchai |first1=Jintamas |title=Khaosan Vendors to Defy City Hall's New Rules |url=http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/07/31/khaosan-vendors-to-defy-city-halls-new-rules/ |access-date=31 July 2018 |work=Khaosod English |date=31 July 2018}} On the first day of the ban on stalls, roughly 70 percent of the vendors opened as usual in defiance of the police.{{cite news |last1=Panyasuppakun |first1=Kornrawee |title=Khaosan vendors brazenly defy BMA's ban on pavement trading |url=https://www.nationthailand.com/detail/national/30351251 |access-date=2 August 2018 |work=The Nation |date=2 August 2018}}{{cite news |title=Vendors ignore ban on road stalls on Khao San |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1513922/vendors-ignore-ban-on-road-stalls-on-khao-san |access-date=2 August 2018 |work=Bangkok Post |agency=Reuters |date=2 August 2018}}

{{update|section|reason=date given for completion of the project is in the past, so the actual facelift should be available for description|date=May 2022}}

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The BMA announced in 2019 that it will commit 48.8 million baht to transform Khaosan Road into an "international walking street". The US$1.6 million project, the first makeover of the road since its creation in 1892, will commence in October 2019, continue through the tourist high-season, and be completed by February 2020.{{cite news |last1=Algie |first1=Jim |title=Khao San Road, Bangkok: from low-rent slum to 'flashpacker' central to counterculture relic – will gentrified party strip be saved by a revamp? |url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3042806/khao-san-road-bangkok-low-rent-slum-flashpacker-central |access-date=24 December 2019 |work=South China Morning Post |date=24 December 2019}} The project will repave footpaths and create designated 1.5 m x 2 m spaces for 240–360 licensed Thai vendors drawn by lot.{{cite news |last1=Ngamkham |first1=Wassayaos |last2=Wancharoen |first2=Supoj |title=Cops crack down on Khao San crime |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/1724615/cops-crack-down-on-khao-san-crime |access-date=5 August 2019 |work=Bangkok Post |date=5 August 2019}} Vehicles will be prohibited on Khaosan Road from 09:00–21:00 daily.{{cite news |last1=Pongsupradit |first1=Chayanit |last2=Kasemsuk |first2=Narumon |last3=Wancharoen |first3=Supoj |title=Cleaning up Khao San |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/1724247/cleaning-up-khao-san |access-date=4 August 2019 |work=Bangkok Post |date=4 August 2019}}

• Banana Pancake Trail

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{{Wikivoyage|Bangkok/Khao San Road|Khao San Road}}

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{{Visitor attractions in Bangkok}}

Khaosan

Category:Neighbourhoods of Bangkok

Category:Tourist attractions in Bangkok

Category:Shopping districts and streets in Thailand

Category:Phra Nakhon district

category:1892 establishments in Siam