Khao San Road

Wander the streets of this area at any and every given moment of the day. There is something interesting to see from the crack of dawn as vendors begin to set up their booths until nearly 24 hours later when the last few barflies are stumbling back from the Mango bar.

Quick Tips:

To get there from the airport, take the airport bus that costs 70 baht, or ask about the public transport which will be less than ten baht. There are other services that will catch you and charge a lot more for the same service. If you are taking a taxi, bargain down to 250 baht at the most.

Best Way To Get Around:

Get a map with bus routes on it if you plan on seeing a lot of the city. Taxis are expensive, riding tuk-tuks (three-wheeled deisel scooters) will fill your lungs with traffic pollution, and all road travel will be slow.
Get on the public river ferries. They are fast and cheap and offer a nice view of the city. Or try the new Skytrain. It doesn't go to Khao San area but you can get to it by river ferry.
I always find that the best option is to walk and many tourist destinations including the Grand Palace are in easy walking distance of Khao San.

Khao San road is fun to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Sawasdee House is just around the corner from the main drag behind Wat Chana Songkhram. There veranda restaurant and the Bangkok Bar next door makes this a popular place and a good place to meet people and hear about their adventures. This is one of the more expensive guesthouses in the area (which is not saying much!). The rooms range in price from 250 baht single with a fan and shared bath but no outside window to 750 baht for a double with air-con, private bath and a small balcony. They don't have hot water and I've never needed it in Bangkok.

The down side of this place is that it can get quite noisey especially at night when the restaurant sound system starts competing with the booming bass from the disco next door. If your not a night owl it will be frustrating at times. They have a travel agent, laundry and bag storage all available at the front desk.

I know your mother told you not to drink the water or eat anything off of the street, but she doesn't know what she is missing. Vendors line the streets in the Khao San area at night, serving up some of the tastiest local cuisine you'll find. Heaping plates of Phad Thai, suculent sliced pineapple, curries, Tom Yam (spicy soup),Noodle soup, Satay and the traveler's favorite, banana pancakes can all be found on carts on the street, most of it for less than a dollar. These mini chow wagons are not blessed with visits from a local health inspector so if you see something that doesn't look right just move on. You'll find ten more place that serve the same thing. The rule of thumb is hit the ones that the locals eat at, as they've had a chance to find out who does a good job.
Along with the culinary delights, a whole host of oddities like chicken feet, tripe, dried squid on a stick and a variety of deep fried bugs are available for both the adventurous and foolish alike. You don't have to eat it, but you should at least get a look at some of the crazy things other people call food.
Adventurous eating can be a great way to spend an evening, assuming that you are responsible about what you put in your mouth. Start off slow. Order something small and see how it sits with you. Eating too much greasy food anywhere in the world will get you sick, and the beer is likely to do more damage than the chicken feet so don't go shoveling in unidentified munchies at the end of an evening at the bar. And keep some Immodium around just in case.

I was feeling a little lonely and homesick heading back to my room the first time I stopped at the Mango. Before the bartenderess set the first beer in front of me I'd met three people. I stayed all night.

The bars in Bangkok are supposed to close by midnight. Somehow the Mango manages to stay open till dawn or later most of the time. It's just a cabana bar in the open air of the alley that runs behind Wat Chana Songkhram. They only have two kinds of beer and some Thai whiskey. They usually run out of cold beer before they close. It's one of those places that has a lot more heart than pomp and is truly one of the jewels of Khao San Road.

I'm suprised it took this long to get a full-fledged bar/nightclub in the Khao San Rd area. These guys do a pretty good job of it. There is almost always something crazy going on in this pulsing, throbbing, dark and dirty bar. Well, not really dirty. It was brand new when I was there (Jan, 2000) and well kept. But who knows how long that will hold up to the all night dancing and drinking that goes down here every night (much to the dismay of those in the neighboring guesthouse who are too worn out from sight-seeing to join in on the fun. DJs come and go; many of them are travelers. There are cross dressers, sex tourists with their 'dates', quite a few Thai folk who work in the area, and of course loads of the hip and the hippy travelers.

Bangkok Bar is one of the places that manages to overstay the 12am curfew imposed on bars in Bankok most every night. The dance floor is small and usually crowded. It is another spot where you won't find much Thai culture but you can still have a great time meeting travelers from all over the world.