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| Pros |
Still cheap, meet fellow travellers, close to tourist attractions, well known. Excellent place for booking your trips. |
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| Cons |
Not what it used to be, becoming trendy, becoming more expensive. |
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| Places Nearby: |
Grand Palace, Golden Mount Temple, Wat Po, Sanam Luang, |
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Bangkok
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Kao San road or Kao Sarn road, depending on your spelling, was once the mecca for all back packers to Thailand and a stopping off point before venturing further afield.
It was once a very cheap, rough and ready, place to stay with no thrills. Accommodation could be had for 50 Baht a night and for that you'd get a bed in a room bearly large enough to fit you and your luggage. If you were lucky you had a table and a bed side light that worked. The walls were thin and you'd hear everything your neighbour was up to.
Kao San road was also a place for those more interested in getting high through various drugs such as heroin, opium or hash but with the recent clean up campaigns, this is all but a thing of the past.
Kao Sarn road is changing. The accommodation of old can still be found but much newer and cleaner places are slowly taking their place. Internet cafes are everywhere and the bars and restaurants are now much more up market because young Thais have found that Kao Sarn is a trendy place to hang out and because of that, the Kao Sarn of old is being transformed into a more upmarket area as demanded by the local Thais and by travellers demanding better quality facilities and willing to pay for it.
For example, Starbucks is now there and when I went down Kao Sarn road to research this article, I popped in for a coffee. My Goodness it's expensive. 160 Baht for a medium Java Chip drink with whipped cream !! All that it is the renamed Rhumba drink but is now 15 Baht more expensive. The drink is exactly the same, just a new name but much more expensive.
Now, the strange thing was, there were a bunch of back packers in there, sitting pretty on the nice sofas drinking expensive coffee. Starbucks is incredibly expensive compared to Coffee World and other places but for back packers here to see Thailand, why hole up in Starbucks ? Bangkok and Thailand is awash with coffee bars, all of which offer very good coffee drinks at a fraction of the cost of Starbucks. Get out and about, experience Bangkok, do anything, but don't sit where you'd be sitting back home.
So, what does Kao Sarn road offer and why go there ?
Well, there is still cheap accommodation to be had and the newer cleaner places are still fairly cheap. It's a good place to book your travels and hook up with other travellers who might be going your way. You can also pick up all your favourite songs on pirated CDs which litter the streets or get your hair done on the side of the road.
Kao Sarn is still a pack packers section but it's certainly more upmarket than it ever was. During the day it's very quiet with people sitting around open air bars watching movies shown on large screens as they await their connecting buses or for their friends to arrive. The heat of the day prevents people from just wandering around. If you are stuckfor something to do, get away from Kao San road and find your way to the river near the right hand corner of the main Entrance to the Grand Palace. Cross the road, wander through the min market and head towards the pier and the Chao Praya ferry / boat service. Here you'll find some cheap
The stalls are open from around 11 a.m onwards and it's always possible to get food from the street or one of the guest house / restaurants.
At night, it's a different story. Kao Sarn road comes to life in the evenings, with people from many sections of Bangkok coming to Kao Sarn road to enjoy the bars, people and the general atmosphere. You'll find almost as many Thais there in the evenings as you will tourists.
Some nice bars can be found by going off Kao Sarn road:
Head towards the police station end of Kao Sarn road which is where traffic enters. Turn right and walk for about 50 yards and cross the main road. There you will find another road ( called a soi ) and down that road is a number of good bars and pubs.
Also, instead of crossing the road, continue a littel further and turn right into the first road you come across. It might seem a little quiet at the entrance, but walk further in and there are a number of bars where the Thais go and live music is played. It's also a good road for grabbing a bite to eat.
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Be Careful:
Thailand is a safe place by all accounts, but don't get lulled into a false sense of security and the friendly smiles of the Tuk Tuk drivers lining the side of the roads.
Don't accept drugs from them ( or anyone for that matter ) because they are often in with the local police and once they've taken your money, they'll turn you into the police who will extract money from you and then pay the tuk tuk drivers a cut. Drugs of all kinds are illegal and can land you in jail for a very long time. At the best, you can find yourself paying a lot of money to the local police to let you go.
Also, Thailand has introduced urine testing at random spots and at random times. One minute you can be partying away, the next, lights go on and a bunch of police enter telling you to remain where you are and to produce a urine sample. If the result is positive, kiss your travels goodbye, say hello to a police station and prepare to call mummy and daddy explaining why you won't be going to university after all.
Girls travelling alone or in twos should be careful or taxis and tuk tuks. There have been reports of rapes being committed by these drivers so please be careful.
Date rape drugs are also being used here so don't leave your drinks unattended and don't accept a drink from a stranger unless you are 100% sure it's clean.
If you go to the toilet or have left your drink for a while, take the loss and buy another one.
Having said all of this, I'm sure you already know and there is no need to be paranoid. Just be careful, vigilent and don't leave yourself open to dodgey people or situations.
A Few Good Tips:
Register with your embassy. Let them know where you're going and when you are expected to be back. Leave them with any important emergency and contact details. List of embassies can be found HERE
Learn some basic Thai: Learning a few basic phrases and numbers will come in handy. If you speak some Thai, even if it's just a sentence or two, it will give you an edge on anyone trying to pull a fast one. If you speak to them in Thai, they will assume you've been here a while and are therefore you are more likely to know the score.
Click Here For Some Thai
Dress Properly: Sure, you are on holiday and you want to wear the easiest clothes and it's your year out from Uni or somewhere and it's time to get the henna tatoo or your hair plaited. You can do all that but if you look like a traveller, you'll be treated like one. You'll be chareged more and treated with less respect, so, if you can,
Thais respect money...and people with it. If you look like you don't have it, or are not going to spend it, you'll be treated accordingly.
Tipping: Tipping is becoming more common and is, in my opinion, becoming a bit of a scam that you can't get around. More on that in a sec, but for now, tipping is based on an average amount of about 20 - 40 Baht. If you've been somewhere a long time and had good service, then it's up to you, but don't tip more than 100 Baht.
People who earn a tip should be tipped accordingly, but don't feel that the tip you are giving is nothing compared to where you come from and you should give more. It's all relative and so a 20 - 40 Baht tip is ample.
Don't tip taxis, tuk tuks etc. Feel free to round up the amount to make payment easy but don't add on anything for a tip.
Bargaining: This is a skill. It can be learned to some degree but the haggling of old is gone because there's always someone else behindwho is willing to pay more.
My rule of thumb is to drop the price by 50% and see what happens. This is especially true for watches, but for clothing, the prices won't drop too much.
Start at one shop, drop it by 50% and if they don't like that walk away and then drop the price at the next shop by 30%...and so on. It's highly likely you'll find exactly the same item at the next stall so don't worry about losing that special item.
Religious artifacts: Two things to remember here. Firstly, the number of items that are perported to come from Angkor Wat etc would mean that there would have had to have been over 10 Angkor Wats to meet supply, so take any guarantees of authenticity with a pinch of salt, even if they offer a certificate of authenticity. Certificate ? From who ?
When buying any item denoting Buddha or religious in tone, make sure you don't nee some kind of certificate to get it out of the country. Small, emerald buddhas with fat green bellies are exempt, but there are rules about certifications for certain items, so try to get information about this before buying. I know of an ambassador who legally bought some antique items from Laos and had all sorts of trouble getting them out of the country because they needed a certificate.
Respect Thai People And Their Beliefs: We're back to the dress code again I'm afraid. Thais don't like to see women wearing revealing tops and clothing. Having said that Thai women are now wearing more and more revealing items of clothing so the sentiment is dying fast. However, when entering temples or places to do with the king etc make sure you wear clothing that covers your legs and shoulders and amply covers your chest and clevege. If you don't have the right clothing, you might be provided with clothing that will cover you properly, or you might be turned away completely. Take a small rucksack, add some light long slacks, a shawl for your shoulders and put them on before going into temples, grand palace etc.
Temples: Take shoes off when entering a temple. This is fairly obvious because there is usually a shoe rack just outside. Don't worry about losing your shoes. I've never known it to happen.
If you sit down in a temple to look at the Buddha images etc, make sure you sit so that your feet are not pointing to the images or any monk. Photography in many temples is forbidden, so before clicking away, check for signs or just ask a Thai. Show them your camera..make appropriate gestures and they'll politely tell you "yes" or "no".
Where To Eat:
There are plenty of places to eat in Kao Sarn road but if you are on a budget, stop at one of the stalls on the road / road side offering Pad Thai ( stir friend noodles with bean sprouts, egg, vegetables and maybe shrimp ). This is a good meal and should keep you full for a while. It is also cheap at around 35 Baht a plate. Just order it and eat on the go.
Other vendors will be selling spring rolls, sandwiches, Kebabs etc. But more places open up as the night closes in.
All the guest houses will provide food to some degree or other. Usually Thai food with the occasional burger or western breakfasts available.
If you are not keen on trying the local offerings, then you can grab a McDonalds or a Burger King, both of which are at the opposite end to the police station ( follow flow of traffic up Kao Sarn road. McDonalds is on the left off the main road, inside a mini complex. Burger King is right in front of the entrance to Kao Sarn Road.
Bars, Pubs, Clubs
There are places such as Gulliver's ( Police Station end of Kao Sarn Road, right on the corner ) which are proper pub affairs where you can eat and drink the night away. There is also Susie Bar which is another pub where you can eat, drink, listen to music and play pool. Susie Bar is down a side street about half way along Kao Sarn road. It's a big wooden interior type place, very similar to bars in the UK, USA, Canada or Australia, so if it's a Thai scene you want, this is not it.
Silk Bar is very popular. It looks daed during the day but it lights up during the evening is and is popular with locals and visitors alike.
Tom Yum Koong, is a Thai style restaurant where Thai university students go. It's down a short side alley closer to the police station but on the opposite side. During the night a large neon bill-board will light up and it's clearly visible.
Things to buy:
Books at one of the many second hand / used book stores. Be "warned" that many of the books wrapped in a plastic wrapper are wrapped like that so that you can't see the poor, photocopy quality pages within. On the outside they look like normal books, but inside could be badly photocopied pages and the reading can become frustrating as pages are either missed or in the wrong order and the print is faded and unreadable. If you can't open the book, don't buy it.
T-shirts / loose clothing you can get some decent quality clothes here which will see you through your travels at the very least. If you want to grab some extra shirts, T-shirts, slack pants etc, then grab them here. You will quickly run out of clean things to wear and smelling like a week old sock is not going to go down well with the Thais
( or others around you ).
Rucksacks / Suitcases: Probably a good idea to grab a small rucksack here for day trips. The quality is pretty good and should last you some time. ZIps might be the first to go but I rarely have issues with the ones I buy, and Suitcases are a good purchase just before heading off home. Dump the old one you came with, repack the nice new one, and you'll be set for your travels for a few years to come. I recommend the hard cased ones as they protect your valuables from the rough treatment they get at airports.
Monks: A small issue for women. Make sure you don't touch or get near a monk that might mean he could touch you. If you are on a bus and there is a space next to you and you female, a male monk will not come and sit next to you because he can't touch you, so you would be expected to stand up and give the space to the monk.
This is the same if travelling on the river boat, or ferry and so on. If you go to a temple, you might see monks saying some prayers and then tying some string around mens' wrists. The monk will say prayers for women too but he will not tie the string on for you. He will drop the string into your hand and you have to tie it yourself or get someone else to do it for you.
Actually, monks are quite a disappointment in Bangkok. You are quite honestly more likely to find a monk shopping for IT equipment in Pantip Plaza than almost anywhere else.
Thai Women: This is another small issue but one guys might like to take note of: Thai women are experts at making you feel like you are the one and only. Guys: you ARE handsome, you ARE funny, she DOES love you, and as long as you ignore all of that, you might stand a chance.
Thai women, in general, don't pick up, or allow tourists ( farang ) to pick them up. They know you are here for a holiday and any "good" girl will ignore your advances because of that. If any girl approaches you, or allows you to approach her, you will end up losing something: either money, time, pride, or something else you might value.
If you don't mind forking out for drinks, food, travel etc, then by all means..knock yourself out.
The hard part is not falling for it. Thai women are sexy. No doubt about it. Good looking, slim, petite and so on, but you won't gain by sparking up a relationship. If you want to experience oriental delights, play it safe and insist on using a condom and then move on to your next destination. Don't invite them to join you,
There. Preaching over. Now...go have some fun.
