Bangkok/Things to do/ nightlife
Khao San Road
410 metres of bars, pad thai carts and tattoo shops a kilometre north of the Grand Palace. Free, loud, and not what it was in 1995.
What we checked
Checked on 21 September 2026. The street's length, history and peak hours come from the Thai government portal named above. The 2019 rebuild of the street surface and drainage is documented by the same source. Prices on the street are not published by anyone and none is given here. We have not been.
Verified via. The Thai government's official host site for the 2026 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings (am2026thailand.go.th), page dated 18 September 2025, read on 21 September 2026, gives "Free entry to the street", its length as 410 metres, its origin as an 1892 rice market and the peak hours above. OpenStreetMap carries the road as way 1516377328 at 13.7589, 100.4973.
Admission
Free. Free to walk. Drinks, food and tattoos are charged at whatever the stall says, and bargaining is expected on the souvenir stalls.
A rice market in 1892, a backpacker street from the 1980s, and now a street that mostly sells the idea of itself. It is 410 metres long, it was rebuilt in 2019 with wider pavements and better drainage, and on a Saturday night it is as loud as anywhere in Thailand.
Two completely different streets. By day it is souvenirs, travel agents, laundry and cheap breakfasts. By night the bars take the pavement, the speakers point outwards, and the pad thai carts and scorpion-on-a-stick sellers do their business. If you go at two in the afternoon and wonder what people see in it, that is why.
The tuk-tuks here are the ones to watch. Unmetered, tourist-priced and persistent. Our scams guide covers the routine, and the Grab and taxis guide covers what the alternatives cost.
It is walkable to the old town. The Grand Palace is about a kilometre south, which is why so many people still stay around here despite the noise. Our Old Town area page has the hotels we list nearby.
Rambuttri, the lane curving around behind it, is the version with the same food and half the volume, and is where most people end up after one drink on Khao San itself.
Best for
One evening of it, if only to see what the fuss is about
Skip if
Small children at night, and anyone hoping for a quiet drink
Where it actually is
Talat Yot, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok
Old Town, Bangkok
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.View larger map
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