Things To Do In The Khao San Road Area Of Bangkok, Thailand

Khao San Road in Bangkok is a busy street that, for decades, has been the number one destination for thrill-seeking backpackers looking for hedonistic adventures.

Here you will find literally hundreds of bars, all offering the same cheap drinks and balloons filled with laughing gas. Prostitution is rife and you can find bars filled with women and ladyboys whom you can ‘hire’ and take to any of the nearby hotels that allow you to purchase rooms by the hour. If you have come to Bangkok for its history and culture, it is probably better if you choose another area.

Khao San Road has gained a bad reputation over the years (see this article for an example). The area has grown to accommodate the increase in tourism and now the adjacent ‘Ram Buttri Road’ is slowly becoming an extension for party-goers (though it is not quite as hectic).

Walking down Khao San Road after midnight can be like walking through a George A Romero movie, as young travellers feel the effects of cheap booze and high temperatures. Luckily, most stay in cheap hostels around Khao San Road so don’t often venture outside the area. In fact, neither the MRT or the BTS trains run near the area which may be why a lot of tourists head for Khao San Road and just stay there, missing out on the rest of Bangkok entirely.

We began our year-long travels of Southeast Asia in Bangkok, 11 months prior to our return. We spent two weeks in total (including three nights in Kanchanaburi): first staying in the Bang Rak area before moving to the west of the river. We only stayed in the Khao San Road area for a couple of nights at the end of our first Bangkok visit. It was a very different Bangkok to what we had already seen. Budget was our main factor in returning to this area.

How To Get To Khao San Road From Bangkok Airport 

On our return to Bangkok, we arrived by plane from Mandalay in Myanmar. On leaving the airport, we found public bus stops to the right of the departure exit. One of these buses takes you directly to Khao San Road for just 50 baht. It is the cheapest way to reach Khao San and you won’t have to wait long for a bus as they are regular.

Where To Stay In Khao San Road

These are some of the best budget hostels in the Khao San Road area of Bangkok, according to user reviews. These are affiliate links to the Agoda web site. I found Agoda to be much better than booking.com in Southeast Asia. I receive a small amount for any bookings made through these links at no extra cost to you.

• Nappark Hostel @ Khao San Road
• Star Amir Guesthouse
• Happio
• Rest Is More Hostel
• At Home Guest House
• Laksameenarai Guesthouse
• Sawatdee Guesthouse The Original
• Mam’s House Khaosan
• Prasuri Guest House

We decided not to go for dorm rooms here as we figured it might get a bit messy with lots of drunken travellers in the area!

After a weekend in Kanchanaburi (highly recommended), we returned to Bangkok for two more nights before our travels took us north of the city. I wanted to stay near the Khao San Road area just to see what it was like. Joanna, less so!

KC Guesthouse

‘KC Guesthouse’ (map) is just North of Khao San Road. It is actually fairly quiet to say it is on the doorstep of the busiest nightlife Bangkok has to offer. The hosts were very welcoming and greeted us with a smile every time we entered and exited the building.  There is a restaurant underneath the guesthouse but we didn’t eat there. The room was clean and came with both air conditioning and a fan! We did not have a private bathroom but we never had to wait to use the showers, which were kept clean. The WiFi was hit and miss but this may be because we were staying on the very top floor. I would recommend this place for a few nights.

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Click here to book your stay at KC Guesthouse.

Khaosan Art Hotel

On our return to Khao San Road, we booked a double room with private bathroom at ‘Khaosan Art Hotel’ (map). The hotel is located about 5 minutes walk away from Khao San Road so it was pretty quiet in the hotel. There are plenty of more chilled-out restaurants and bars in the immediate surrounding area and the hotel itself has its own bar/restaurant. Show your key and get 20% of food and non-alcoholic drinks (make sure they do this as I had to get them to rewrite the bill). WiFi works well and the shower was warm (though there wasn’t much force to the shower). Room service is available on request.

The hotel warned us in advance that we had booked the small room and that we should expect SMALL but it was actually fine. I was expecting smaller after their warning.

We had a decent stay at ‘Khaosan Art Hotel’ and even extended for another three nights.

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We paid £80 for 6 nights in a double room with private shower. (Note that the hotel is called ‘Khaosan Art Hotel’ but the booking information calls it ‘Happio’ and Google Maps calls it by its restaurant name!)

Click here to book a stay at ‘Khaosan Art Hotel’.

Erawan House

We also spent two nights at ‘Erawan House’ (map), which is situated on the same street as Khaosan Art Hotel. The location was the hotel’s best feature. The rooms were decent with hot showers and the staff were friendly. Unfortunately, the WiFi was terrible. It wouldn’t work at all when we arrived. To be fair, the staff did try to fix it and they thought they had on at least three occasions only to find it was still not working properly. The WiFi requires you fill your details into a login page but our laptops would not open this page. Why hotels make it so difficult, I’ll never know.

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We paid £22 for two nights in a double room with en-suite bathroom.

Click here to book a stay at Erawan House.

Food And Drink In Khao San Road

There are no street food markets in the area around Khao San Road but there are plenty of street food vendors. They are more expensive than elsewhere in Bangkok but away from Khao San Road itself you will be able to find cheaper prices.

I have read lots about how the food is very poor in Khao San Road as it is overpriced and caters for tourists. I feel this is not entirely fair as we had some good street food in this area.

Adhere The 13th Blues Bar

A little further out from Khao San Road, but this intimate live blues bar is worth a visit. Beer is not cheap but there is no cover charge so I’m hoping that some of the beer money goes to the performers. Very nice little bar and the music was great; more folk than blues and some interesting choice of cover versions (Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Beatles, etc.) Map.

Gecko Bar

Serving well-priced Thai dishes and large cold beers for less than 100 baht, we filled up our tummies with a good meal here before heading out to a couchsurfing social event. The food was quick to arrive and was tasty and fresh! Map.

I Love Thai Food

We came here many times on our three visits to the Khao San Road area. It’s an outdoor restaurant (no inside tables) and all the food is cooked out on the street. The food was really good both times and fairly priced for the area (80 baht per dish). Map.

Jazz Happens

Small jazz bar that has live music from a collective of young jazz enthusiasts. The music was great and the bar was a perfect setting. The beer is pricey though (120 baht for a small Chang). I hope they pay the musicians out of the extra charge! Map.

Jaywalk Cafe

Small coffee shop with a small food menu. The coffee was good and we also had a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel which was something we’d not had in a LONG time. No toilets here but a nice place for a short stay. Map.

Kalanbatu Bar

It’s a hairdressers by day, but in the evening the scissors are put away and the outside of the shop becomes a street bar. Cheap drinks and live music and they seem to stay open as long as there are paying customers. Map.

Karim Roti Mataba

We came here on our first visit to Bangkok after hearing good things and the food was delicious. We were in and out in no time that time but that was not the case on our second visit. We had to queue to get in and then waited half an hour for our food. It is testament to its quality that people are prepared to wait this long for food in area where you are not exactly low on choice. If you are in the area, you MUST eat here. Delicious food. Map.

Konnichipan Bakery

Tired of noodles and rice? Konnichipan Bakery (map) should be able to satisfy your stomach with its selection of sandwiches, cakes and pastries. Decent coffee, too!

Mad Monkey Hostel

I came in here to find a bar full of young travellers. I ordered a beer just before one of them shouted “PUB CRAWL! LET’S GO!” and literally every single person left for an organised pub crawl, leaving me on my own in a huge, empty bar! I’m sure others will have better experiences. Map.

Meet And Meet Hostel

We came here for morning coffee and breakfast. It was surprisingly good coffee and food, even though they did forget to put tofu in Joanna’s tofu dish! It felt like the staff were shocked at actually having customers as we were the only people there! Map.

Ohungry

Situated on a street with much competition, this restaurant was more busy than its neighbours on most nights which is why we chose to eat here. The food was quick to arrive but thankfully tasted freshly made. Map.

Pizza Pazza

One morning, I had noticed a sign advertising a Beatles tribute band were playing here that evening. I’m not a big tribute band fan at all, but curiosity got the better of me. I could hear them as I approached the bar and they sounded just like the original Beatles. They looked the part too.

Large Chang was 110 baht and came with delicious Italian baked snacks. A great bar with friendly staff, good prices and great music. I made some new friends there too. Highly recommended. Map.

Reggae Bar Bangkok

On my last night out in this area, I was heading to take one last look at KSR. I used the alley that connects KSR to Rambutri Road and came across this place, often called the ‘alley bar’. There was live music (reggae, obviously) and I quickly got chatting to a fun Swiss couple. I stayed until they closed, ever so slightly tipsy. It’s a great place to meet other travellers. Map.

Rocco Bar

The first bar you will come to if you enter KSR from the east. We sat outside and enjoyed live music from a Manu Chao/Bob Marley wannabe who was actually quite good. The guy randomly playing recorder behind him, less so. Map.

Suksabai

Fairly-priced bar with live music blaring out on to the street. If you like hard blues-rock, this is the place for you. The house band plays Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and the like. Food is fast and decent. Map.

Thon Buri Reggae Bar

It was my third visit to Bangkok when I finally visited Thon Buri for the first time. It is a chilled out place with relaxed staff, as you”d imagine from a reggae bar. There was live music which wasn’t reggae, thankfully. By this point, I’d had just about enough Bob Marley, thank you very much. 110 baht for a large Leo which is good value for a music bar. Recommended. Map.

Vespa Cafe

Wonderful coffee shop serving excellent coffee to a jazz soundtrack. It is very well-priced and there are some interesting street-art photography books to enjoy as you sip your strong black. Perfect. Map.

Things To Do In Khao San Road

Most of our activities whilst staying in Khao San Road where in places outside the area so I will add that information to the page ‘Things To Do In Bangkok‘. This included the Amulet Market, Siriraj Medical Museum and the Changchui Market.

Is Khao San Road Worth Visiting?

In my opinion, Khao San Road’s reputation is not entirely deserved. Yes, there is a seedy side to the area, but no more than some other areas in Bangkok and further afield. Yes, there are a lot of drunken people in the area but move away from Khao San Road itself and you can find many cool bars with some great live music.

However, it is probably my least favourite area in Bangkok. From here, we moved to the Ratchathewi area and the street food and general vibe around there was much better and felt much more Thai.

If you are wanting a non-stop party vacation in Thailand, Khao San Road is a good place to start. If you want to soak up more of the ‘real’ Bangkok, I’d recommend looking elsewhere.