Khao San Road, Bangkok, Thailand

Khao San Road , often just shortened to Khao San, or even KSR, is a road in Bangkok, Thailand which is recognized as one of the main destinations for budget tourists and backpacking travellers in Thailand and Southeast Asia. There are two official spellings of the road’s name: Khaosan and Khao San (both appear on different street signs at either end of the road). There are a host of other popular English language spellings, including Kosan, Kaosan, Khaosarn, and varieties thereof.Located in the Banglampoo district of Bangkok, near Rattanakosin Island, Khao San Road is located between Tanao Road and Chakkrabong Road. It is positioned very close to key cultural sites (such as Wat Prakaew and the Grand Palace) which are most often on the itinerary of visitors to Bangkok. The road and the area around it offer hotels, guesthouses, travel agencies, souvenir shops, restaurants and entertainment venues (pubs and clubs) that have developed to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors who stay in the area each year.

Khao San has always been recognised as being a cheap area to stay, but the last decade has seen a rapid upgrading/up scaling, particularly on Khao San Road. Traditionally recognised as being somewhere to find accommodation for only 150 Baht ($4.4)*, it is now more common to find accommodation between 400 Baht ($11.9)* to 800 Baht ($23.8)* range, and an increasing number of outlets charging up to 2,000 Baht ($59.6)*.
Khao San Road gained its place in popular culture through a vivid (if slightly stylized) description in Alex Garland’s 1996 novel “The Beach” and the subsequent film of the same name directed by British director Danny Boyle and staring actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel York, and Patcharawan Patarakijjanon. In the film a location in the Philippines was used to represent Khao San Road.

The history of the area and why it emerged as a popular destination for travellers is not entirely clear. The road and the area around it had for a couple of centuries been a residential area. Common lore has it that in 1982 the Thai Government set up a number of activities to commemorate Bangkok's bicentennial anniversary and what was an supposed to be an extremely auspicious and lucky year - ‘2525’ in the Thai Buddhist calendar. The government’s scheme was more successful than anticipated, and with most of the spectacular events performed at the Grand Palace, the standard hotels in the area were soon fully booked, leaving only 4- and 5-star accommodation, which many budget tourists could afford.

Myth has it a group of Australians first knocked on doors and asked the locals if they could stay in their homes for 20 Baht a night. From that point forward locals recognised the potential for additional income, and continued to offer rooms in subsequent years. Once the word got around about its potential for cheap accommodation, Khao San became one of the “Three Ks” – popular destinations which included Kathmandu and Kabul.

Today, although the area has a strong economy catering for travellers, Khao San is equally recognised as an entertainment area frequented by local Thais, and hosts clubs and pubs that are regularly in ‘top 10’ lists both for Bangkok and Thailand, and the region and the world. The street is now also very well known as a shopping district, where cut-price clothes, DVD films, music CDs and much more can easily be found. In the evening, Thai students often sell goods on the street to supplement their incomes.

Khao San has for a number of years been recognised as the leading venue for Songkran celebrations in Bangkok. Songkran is a festival celebrating the Thai New Year. What started as a delicate washing ceremony to pay respects to elders, morphed over generations to become a raucous event where people throw water over each other. Songkran on Khao San Road gained global fame and drew people into Thailand who came here just to experience the festival there. However, over recent years, government efforts to return the festival to its cultural roots and quieten down dangerous behaviour (that particularly led to road deaths in Thailand’s provinces) have been successful and Songkran on Khao San is now a much more sedate affair.