The last time I was on Khao San Road, a mere few weeks ago a colleague said he did not like it as it was “too touristy” and had attracted “chavs”. I explained that it was both of these, but this was what it made I so great, particularly for those of us who travel to such weird destinations. And if nothing else the street food Khao San Road scene is absolutely epic – not to mention the drinks.
What is Khao San Road?
For the uninitiated Khao San Road was pretty much the original backpacker haven in Thailand. This was and to many extents still is the starting point for foreigners coming to Bangkok on the Bamboo Trail that want to party.
As such it has always had a reputation for attracting a lower breed of tourist. There are buckets of booze here, drugs, girls, fake degrees, fake drivers licenses, and really loud music.
This makes it truly the opposite of what “real travelers” of which I used to see myself and expats tend to go for.
I though personally love the place, in a similar way that I love Bali – which I shall explain more about later.
Drinking in Khao San Road
The Khao San Road is a party place and it is littered with outside bars and inside clubs that sell the legendary buckets. These have shot up in price compared to the old days, but will still fuck you up for about $6 a pop, many offering 2 for 1 deals.
Alas they do use local liquor, which is not great for the hangover, so this should be kept in mind, but hey when in Khao San Road you gonna drink Long Island Iced Tea.
For drinks at a better budget you can go to ether side of the street to the street food places that also serve Smirnoff Ice for 100 baht ($3), or Soju for 130 ($4) – and yes the smart among will have noticed that Soju is by far the best bang for your buck. Alas they do not have Smirnoff Soju, unlike in Hua Hin, but you can buy it in 7-Eleven.
Street Food Khao San Road in 2024
Street food in Khao San Road quite literally litters the streets of Khao San Road, with a real mix of different foods, with this ironically being one of the things that likely puts the purists off of the place.
There are stalls selling sweet crepes, shawarma style kebabs, weird ranch fries and even crocodile. The later of these I tried on my last trip and although it was not great value at $6 a pop, I at least got to try it.
The best value street food of Khao San Read though is probably Thai BBQ, which is not all that dissimilar to the BBQ that you get in the Philippines, or Cambodia and consists of sausages and other meats and quickly cooked and easily ate.
Probably my favorite way to eat on Khao San Road though is probably the street restaurants, which are cheap and serve actual Thai food, such as Pad Thai, spring rolls and the like, as well having the man that brings you street drinks and street soju. Yes it is cheaper if you go off the street, to a random market, or down some dark alley and I am sure maybe is even better, but the premium here gets you to people watch, a truly amazing thing on the Khao San Road.
And the overall Khao San Vibe?
Aside from getting Khao San Street Drinks and Khao San Street Food, what is really epic about the place is that you get the Khao San Road vibe. This is mainly young people getting off of their faces, but it is also the sleaze of working African girls, dodgy expat characters, ladytboys grabbing you by the arm and xcmd truly distasteful wristbands.
Yes it is not classy and perhaps not “real traveling”, but doing street food on Khao San Road washed down with some buckets will not do you any harm either…..
You can join me here for our South-East Asian Adventure.