Bangkok’s Khao San Road is known across the globe as being the meeting point of the world’s backpacker community – with all the ephedrine heavy buckets, poorly rolled joints, and questionable ukulele performances that entails.
Though its status today feels almost self-perpetuating, the hugely iconic strip – actually just 400 metres in length – has been through many iterations in its illustrious, often infamous past.
Just 150 years ago, Banglamphu, the district where Khao San Road does its thing, was the epicentre of the world’s rice trade, with traders ferrying rice from markets in the area along the district’s dirt tracks and alleys to canal boats waiting on the Chao Phraya River, ready to transport the revered grain further afield.
As CNN explain of Khao San Road; ‘’the cobbled strip wasn’t grand enough to be named after a historic Thai figure or nation-building principle, unlike other city thoroughfares, so it was simply called Soi Khao San (Milled Rice Lane).’’
Fast forward a century to the 1970s, and Bangkok had become a major focus of the South East Asian ‘hippy trail’, with savvy locals seeing an opportunity, and opening up small guest houses in and around Khao San Road to bring in tourists, its proximity to the Grand Palace, the affordable Chao Phraya River transport network, and tight knit, traditional streets appealing to travellers seeking something ‘authentic’.
By the mid ‘90s, Khao San Road was a heaving mix of hedonistic travellers, lost souls, and curious voyeurs, here for swapping tales over bargain drinks and, often, other easy to come-by vices.
Then, The Beach happened, with the cult Alex Garland book adding to the notoriety of the strip, the first seven chapters set on Khao San Road.
At the height of the road’s powers – just before the pandemic changed everything – Khao San Road was receiving a whopping 50’000 tourists every single day during high season, before the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority announced a $1.6 million investment to turn it into an ‘’international walking street’’, with all the regulation and gentrification that implies.
Roads would be repaved, the number of vendors curbed (in more ways than one), and curfews on its bars and clubs more strictly enforced.
Then COVID hit, decimating business, and Khao San Road became a ghost town, affecting bars, guest houses, and the surrounding neighbourhood’s once prosperous street food vendors.
At the end of 2022, six months after Thailand lifted COVID restrictions in June, Khao San operators reported that business is back to 90% to 95% of pre-Covid levels, according to The Nation newspaper.
They’re arguably returning to a gentrified version of the once wild thoroughfare. The cannabis consumption is now government-approved (kind of), most of the buckets replaced with cocktails, the ukulele with tasteful, meandering jazz, and the crowd a little older and wiser.
Of course, come night, the main still drag begins to swell with a sea of late night revellers. Local bar promoters line the street, beckoning you in with deals on buckets and balloons. Hawkers still sell tourists scorpions on sticks, and now crocodile meat, too, which has actually become popular with locals as pork prices surge. However, it’s not quite as raucous as it once was.
Fortunately, the shophouses and street food vendors of Banglamphu have come roaring back, with woks fired up and grills burning. We couldn’t be happier.
If you’re looking for the very best eating options in the area, then it’s advisable to stray a little away from the famous strip, instead embracing the surrounding streets in search of a properly good supper. With that in mind, look no further than our guide to the best Thai street food close to Khao San Road, Bangkok.
Khun Lek Porridge, Atsadang Road
Though Khun Lek may be prosaically known as a ‘porridge restaurant’, there’s plenty more than just a sustaining bowl of the good stuff to be found at this canteen-like establishment a ten minute walk south from Khao San Road.
Khun Lek Porridge serves bowls of rice congee (khao tom), with simple, totally delicious trays of curries and stir-fries, pickles and steamed vegetables, laid out for customers to have spooned over a plate alongside. Well, two plates actually – pink ones are 10 baht and blue ones (usually more protein heavy) are 20, with the rice soup itself just 3 baht and the ice water free.
For the traveller eating around Bangkok on a budget, this is a fantastic option; you won’t pay more than 50 baht (£1.20) for the privilege of a properly nourishing feed. Don’t miss the salted duck egg salad or clams stir-fried in chilli jam; just delicious.
Address: 5/3 ถนน อัษฎางค์ San Chao Pho Sua, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
Pad Thai Fai La Tu, Dinsor Road
Chef Andy Yang has some serious pedigree, having won a Michelin star for his New York restaurant Rhong Tiam back in 2010 and, more recently, with Table 38 back in his native Bangkok. Though both have now sadly closed, you’ll find the same smart cooking sensibilities of chef Yang at Pad Thai Fai La Tu, a five minute walk from Khao San Road.
The signature dish here is the pad Thai moo yang, which sees grilled slices of pork neck laid invitingly over a bed of Thailand’s famous noodle dish. Regarded as one of the best pad Thais in Bangkok, this one is not to be missed if hunger hits while you’re on Khao San Road.
Address: 115/5 Dinso Rd, Baworniwet, Phranakorn, Bangkok 10200
Website: ผัดไทยไฟทะลุ Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu | Bangkok | Facebook
Read: Where to find the best Pad Thai in Bangkok
Kim Sia, Tanao Road
If you’ve ever seen the image of an ornate green bowl on the facade of a Bangkok shophouse, inside a good feed is likely to be found. That’s because it’s the emblem of Thai’s own version of the Michelin Guide, Shell ShuanShim; an indicator of fresh food and high quality cooking.
Kim Sia is one such acclaimed place, and at this small shophouse just off Tanao Road you’ll find a fantastically light bowl of clear soup, a noodle of your choice, and the restaurant’s house-made fish balls, all for just 40 baht. For an extra 10 baht, you’ll want to add some deep-fried wonton sheets, which bring crunch and savour to this most delicate of dishes.
Address: 106 Tanao Rd Khwaeng Talat Yot, Khet Phra Nakhon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10200
Sae Phun, Mahannop Road
Another street food staple done with real grace and character close to Khao San Road is the chicken stew with rice served over on Mahannop Road, at the esteemed Sae Phun.
With almost 100 years of experience and queues that stretch for seemingly as long, the recipe here (the grandfather of the family’s) is a closely guarded secret, and it’s easy to understand why; for a dish so simple, there’s real magic sprinkled over this version, with the gravy glossy and umami-heavy.
Order yours with a side of fried slices of lap cheong Chinese sausage and a deep-fried egg, and luxuriate in comfort food in its purest form.
Read: The best Thai fine dining and Michelin-starred restaurants in Bangkok
Address: เลขที่ 112 Thanon Mahannop, Sao Chingcha, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
Website: ข้าวหน้าไก่ร้านแซ่พุ้น Sae Phun | Facebook
Kuay Tiew Ped Yang Banglamphu (Original), Chakrapong Road
Another shophouse with a proud history – and one of the best places to eat near Khao San Road – is Kuay Tiew Ped Yang Banglamphu (Original).
Yep, you know when a street food vendor puts ‘Original’ in the title, there’s been some serious imitation/flattery of their signature dish going on. The signature dish in question? Roasted then braised duck, served over egg noodles and all bathing in a five-spice rich soup given sweetness via oyster sauce and both dark and light soy. All yours for just 70 baht.
Read: Hotel Review: River Surya, Bangkok
Address: 119 Chakrabongse Rd, Khwaeng Chana Songkhram, Khet Phra Nakhon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10200
Tom Yum Gung Banglamphu (Original), Kraisi Road
Even those with the most rudimentary grasp of the Thai culinary canon will be familiar with tom yum gung, the hot and sour prawn soup ubiquitous across The Kingdom.
What visitors to Khao San Road might be surprised to hear is that one of the city’s finest renditions is found just a shell’s throw away on Kraisi Road.
Here, at Tom Yum Gung Banglamphu Original (there it is again), you’ll find just a clutch of streetlevel metal tables and brightly coloured stools, and a big vat of aromatic stock bubbling gently right in the middle of the street.
Order verbally (we’re yet to see a menu here), and uncle will make you a fresh bowl to order, spooning a ladleful of soup base into a new pan brimming with freshly bruised aromats, including makrut lime leaf, lemongrass, galangal and, of course, chillis. River prawns are added before the final seasonings of fish sauce and lime and, just like that; streetside ambrosia.
Address: หน้าอาคารจอดรถ ที่อยู่ Banglampuh กรุงเทพมหานคร TH Soi Kraisi, Talat Yot, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
Aheesah Roddee, Tanee Road
If you’re craving your fix of Thai Muslim food close to Khao San Road, then Aheesah Roddee, just a few hundred yard’s away on Tanee Road, is arguably your best bet.
The star dish here is the khao mok neua, the Thai version of biriyani here served with beef that’s been braised low and slow, as well as a nourishing oxtail soup for those who haven’t had their fill of protein yet. A few slices of cucumber and the classic accompaniment of a verdant, vinegar-spiked dipping sauce see you on your way.
Stop! We certainly wouldn’t let you leave Aheesah Roddee without first ordering a few chicken satay sticks; have them go as you stroll back to Khao San Road, making those eating on the main drag very jealous indeed.
Address: 103 105 Thanon Tani, Talat Yot, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
Kor Panich, Tanao Road
We finish up with dessert, at the celebrated Kor Panich right next to Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Here, there’s no danger of the paradox of choice rendering you silent; though Kor Panich does several sticky rice based desserts superbly, it’s especially famous for its unparalleled mango sticky rice.
An 80 year old family recipe sees the most perfectly pandan-scented sticky rice given the sweet/salty treatment so beloved of Thai dessert-makers via seasoned coconut cream, with more of that cream served in a jug on the side for extra indulgence. Only the most ripe of elegantly peeled Thai mangos complete the plate.
You might want to sit down for this one (seating is available in the old shophouse); it’s pure nectar.
Address: 431 433 Thanon Tanao, San Chao Pho Sua, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
And with that, our eating here is done. But not before to Bangkok’s hippest neighbourhood Ari, for some superb som tum and seafood at Lay Lao. Care to join us?