Khao San Road ถนนข้าวสาร

It's my second time to hit Khao San Road this year. And each time I set foot on what's considered to be as the "centre of the universe," i.e. the backpacking universe, a different energy pulsates in this short strip off-Bangkok. The people. The food. The loot, rather, dirt-priced goods. The pub. I don't know. I simply keep coming back to Khao San!

Khao San is immortalized in the bestselling cult classic "The Beach." Just in case you haven't flipped through the pages of the novel by Alex Garland or seen the film adaptation with Leonardo de Caprio on the lead; Danny Boyle (of the Slumdog Millionaire fame) directs; here's a brief I lifted from the web: Richard, a twenty something Brit, arrives on Thailand's famous Khao San Road -- the first stop on the well-trodden backpacker's trail. On his first night, the man in the room next to him slits his wrists and leaves Richard with a map to a mysterious beach. Along with a French couple, Richard sets out to find this supposed paradise, where a select community are trying to create their own version of utopia. When they finally arrive, having survived a harrowing swim and some AK-47 toting marijuana farmers, the new visitors are welcomed rather uneasily. Tensions arise, not least within Richard's psyche. You can guess the rest - the book has been described as What I Did On My Holidays meets Apocalypse Now meets Lord Of The Flies and those references are more than just a pat summery. The Beach is essentially a gripping tale of a journey into the heart of darkness, but one that is nicely wrapped up in knowing pop cultural references and located in a somewhat trendy travel destination.



more from the web:
Khaosan road or Khao San road (Thai: ถนนข้าวสาร) is a short road in central Bangkok, Thailand. It is located in the Banglamphu neighborhood (Phra Nakhon district) about 1 km north from the Grand Palace with Wat Phra Kaew. It has developed over the years into probably the most profound worldwide example of a "backpackers' ghetto", with cheap accommodation compared to other areas of central Bangkok. The accommodation varies from 'mattress in a box' style hotels, 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, from Chiang Mai in the North to Ko Pha Ngan in the South. Many visitors 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, pirate CDs, DVDs, fake educational diplomas, fake driver's licenses, food, second-hand books and many other useful backpacker items are among the common goods traded along the road.

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 Thai New Year (Songkran festival) on April 13 to April 15.



It is one of Bangkok's most vibrant streets, host to people from around the world. One Thai writer described the road as "a short road that has the longest dream in the world." "Khao san" means "raw rice" in Thai. Before it became a tourist hotspot, the street was a major rice market for Bangkok (wikipedia.com).