Tag: <span>old bangkok</span>

Date: January 20, 2023

Yesterday, I most spent my time photographing famous Buddhist temples — first Wat Saket, and later Wat Arun. Today, after finishing my work, I decided to visit yet another popular Bangkok destination I had yet to explore — the famous Khao San Road.

Panthera Group Bangkok Thailand — Right outside my hotel was a company that is in the marijuana business. From the luxury cars outside… you can tell it’s clearly a profitable business!

Crab fried rice Bangkok — I had crab fried rice for a quick lunch

After that I decided to take the BTS.

Blackpink Lisa True ad banners BTS Bangkok — BlackPink is hands down the most popular K-pop girl group in Thailand. And Thai member, Lisa is literally the biggest celeb Thailand. Lisa is everywhere!

I got down at Chit Lom BTS station, walked through Gaysorn Village mall, and reached Pratunam Pier.

Pratunam Pier Canal taxi Bangkok — I was once again going to take the canal boat taxi service to get to the ‘Old Bangkok’ area

You can watch a video I made about my visit to Wat Saket, to get an idea about the canal boat ride:

The boat taxi is the quickest and cheapest way from Sukhumvit to the Old Bangkok quarters. You can take the canal boat taxi to the stop for Wat Saket, and just walk a kilometre to get to Khao San Road.

Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan road — I spotted a large Buddhist temple

Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan Bangkok — This temple is Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan, built in 1846

Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan 37 iron spires — It’s famous for its 37 iron spires

Since I have seen enough temples like this in Thailand, I didn’t feel like exploring it. Instead, I began my walk towards Khao San Road.

Democracy monument Bangkok Thailand — This is Bangkok’s Democracy Monument — a joke of a structure considering what happened to the young Move Forward Party in the last Thailand elections.

Ratchadamnoen Klang road Bangkok — I walked down Ratchadamnoen Avenue

Four headed elephant statue Bangkok — A marble four headed elephant statue

Wat Chanasongkhram Ratchaworamahawihan Bangkok — This is the Wat Chanasongkhram Ratchaworamahawihan (wat = temple). It’s right opposite the entrance to Khaosan Road

Khao San road entrance — And here I finally am!

Even when I first visited Bangkok back in 2009, I contemplated staying in Khaosan Road. This popular stretch became a hub for backpackers from all over the world. But once I realized how bad traffic in Bangkok is, and the fact Khaosan Road has no easy access to a metro station, I always end up staying in the Sukhumvit side, near a BTS or MRT station.

Khaosan Road Thailand panorama — Much of Khaosan Road now is a shopping street and a party destination once the sun sets

Tattoo henna Khaosan road Thailand — Touristy activities such as getting henna designs, hair braiding, and Thai tattoos are all available. Just don’t get tattoos when drunk.

Just like the rest of Bangkok, the legalization of marijuana has resulted in vendors springing up everywhere.

Ronald McDonald weed Khaosan road — Khaosan Road is the only place on earth where you will be misled into thinking Ronald McDonald is promoting marijuana consumption

Ronald namaste Plantopia Khaosan road — But look closely to the left and you will see a McDonalds inside this shopping complex

There are only a few hostels left in Khaosan Road now. Post-COVID, even some hotels are yet to recover.

Khaosan Palace Bangkok Thailand — Khaosan Palace is one of the bigger hotels on Khaosan Road. A good choice if you wish to stay right in the action.

But do note — Khaosan Road can get very noisy at night. A lot of loud music is played at the bars and night clubs here.

Urbar Khaosan road Bangkok — The bars on Khaosan Road liven up only once it gets dark

The One nightclub Khaosan Bangkok — This is The One, one of the popular bars on Khaosan Road. The DJ plays from the very top.

Khaosan spa Bangkok Thailand — And if all the partying gets a bit much, you have plenty of massage parlours as well

Alligator grill Khao San road Bangkok — Khaosan Road has stalls such as this one selling alligator meat

Just a warning about these alligator meat stalls. Given the shock value, you would naturally take a photo — but the stall owners don’t like it. So some of them will demand money to take photos or videos, especially if you aren’t going to buy the meat to try. If you want to take just a photo, offer 20 Thai Baht or something.

Indian restaurant Khaosan road — You have some Indian restaurants on Khaosan as well

Khao San road Chang Bangkok — Khaosan Road is less than half a kilometre long, so once I reached the end of the stretch, I walked back

Rocco club Khao san road Thailand — At the entrance to Khaosan Road is Rocco, a long popular club

As much as I wanted to stay until sunset and see what the party scene of Khaosan Road was like, I had to move on. It’s nice I finally got to see Khaosan Road but clearly this stretch has changed. It’s no long the backpacker hub it once was. During COVID, Khaosan Road got a makeover too.

Just like many popular places in Thailand, touristy activities and heavy commercialization follow, and that has changed Khaosan Road into yet another tourist zone in Bangkok.

Still, there’s still fun to be had at Khaosan Road, and a kilometre or two away are Bangkok’s iconic attractions — the Grand Palace and The Reclining Buddha, and the Chao Phraya river. So it’s not a bad area to stay in.

Here’s a walkthrough I recorded, if you wanted to get an idea about vibe of Khaosan Road, before the loud music starts:

Previous posts in this series:

Thailand: Capturing Wat Arun at Sunset

Thailand: Hindu god shrines around Sukhumvit, Bangkok

Thailand: Siam Square Walking Street, a good place to find K-pop stores in Bangkok

Thailand: Phayathai Food Center and Bangkok’s Gundam Base

Flying AirAsia from Manila to Bangkok

I had read that Wat Pho was close to the Grand Palace so after asking for a few directions from the local police, I began my 15-minute walk to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

Walking through what some people refer to as ‘Old Bangkok,’ one comes across decades old remnants and descendants of the Chinese community in Bangkok.

After passing by shops selling traditional Chinese medicine and an assortment of dried fish, you reach the lane that leads to Wat Pho.

There was no entrance fee, or at least I didn’t come across any, so I just went in and began clicking photos.

And with that, ended the last of my sight-seeing in Thailand.

I took a taxi back to Sukhumvit but man, can the traffic in Bangkok get on your nerves. Coming from India, I’m used to bad traffic — and even though Bangkok traffic isn’t noisy or haphazard like in any major Indian city — it just moves at a snail’s pace.

I pity the taxi drivers who have to work through this every day. It isn’t calming I can assure you. It’s frustrating — and I’m an extremely patient guy.

As it neared 3pm, I finally got fed up and got down near Siam Center. It’s not that I was getting late or anything, I just got irritated moving at snail pace and staring at the traffic in front me. I didn’t even bother asking the taxi driver for the change, instead, I told him to keep it. 90% of them will not fleece you so you can be extra nice to them if you wish.

Since I had some time to kill, I went to Siam Paragon and had lunch from KFC. Yeah, KFC… I know. But I didn’t have the usual. KFC Thailand had introduced a Hot’N’Spicy variant which I thought I’d try out. I went in for the combo meal which packed 2 pieces of chicken, mashed potato in gravy, salad and a drink. The mashed potato looked and tasted so artificial, it was scary to even look at. As for the Hot’N’Spicy chicken, it was essentially the KFC flavour with a lot of MSG thrown in. Tasted a lot like the flavouring that you get with a regular pack of Maggi noodles Masala. Just about okay.

After lunch, I took the BTS (for the last time) and went back to the Thai House Inn. Collected my bags, took a taxi and headed for Suvarnabhumi via the elevated highway (cost 400 baht/Rs. 560).

Taxi ride to Suvarnabhumi airport — The sun setting on Bangkok… and on my holiday

I was at the airport by 5:30pm for my 8:35pm Thai Airways flight back to Bangalore. Got my VAT refund forms stamped, checked in my bags, and collected my VAT refund money from the counter after the security check. I had an hour and half to kill before my flight, so I got myself a Dairy Queen Blizzard with whatever change I had left that I didn’t want in my wallet and then sat by my gate thinking about the last 10 days.

Despite all the planning, things didn’t go the way I wanted to. I ended up taking more flights than I thought, a lot of mishaps, and couldn’t see everything I had hoped on seeing…

… but all I could really think about was how I wanted to quit my job and wanted to be back to do it right, a second time.

Other posts in this series:

Getting ready for my trip

The day I left for Thailand

Day 1 – Suvarnabhumi, Pantip Plaza, Fotofile & MBK

Day 2 – Bridge over the River Kwai and Tiger Temple (Wat Pa Luangta Bua) in Kanchanaburi

Taking the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok

Day 3 – Maesa elephant camp, ‘long-neck’ tribe village near Chiang Mai

Day 3 (Part 2) – Chiang Mai Night Market

Day 4 – Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai… and back in town

Day 5 – Leaving Chiang Mai for Phuket

Day 5 (Part 2) – One night in Phuket