Column: Khao San Road (Rice Street)

– Reposted article –

Who does not know him, this street of streets. The center of the famous backpacker ghetto 'Bang Lamphu' in the Thai capital Bangkok.

At the end of the 60s, hippies from all over the world traveled the hippie trail to India to discover the meaning of life in the ashram, with or without the help of a chunk of Nepalese hashish.

Many moved on Thailand and continued their spiritual quest, whether or not assisted by an inexhaustible supply of Thai weed and for the source of these mind-expanding flowers, the hippies soon ended up in Kao San Road. “Far out!”

In the 60s and 70s, the street was lined with wooden houses on stilts where many Thais ran a tailor's shop. A number of well-rested families came up with the idea of ​​renting out rooms to the flow of good-natured flower children. For a dollar a night, the bearded spiritualists had a bed, free coffee, and a bunch of bananas or a few mangoes in the living room to counteract the constant "eating kick" caused by the colossal joints the eldest daughter cross-legged in the house. used to turn, neutralized. “Far out!”

Good things never last

In the second half of the 80s, airfares plummeted dramatically and Westerners, young and old, flocked to Thailand, which had by then built up a reputation as one of the most beautiful and relaxed countries in Asia with a price level that made staying at home more expensive.

Sino-Thai entrepreneurs smoke money. Lots of money…

The families, who had run their business there for generations, were bought out and the beautiful teak houses were bulldozed away to make way for unimaginative building blocks that incorrectly continued to bear the name 'guesthouse'. “JJ Guesthouse” is one such monstrous three-story building with 70 windowless huts that rent out for $XNUMX a night.

Restaurants, bars and travel agencies multiplied like malaria parasites and today Kao San Road still has two teak wood guesthouses where the guest actually lives with a family. That should not spoil the fun because on Kao San you are still at the right place for:

• Dirt cheap CDs and DVDs, all illegal copies because in Thailand 'copyright' means 'the right to copy'.
• Are you hungry? Japanese sushi, Mexican tacos and burritos, Italian pasta and lasagna, Korean kimshi, Spanish paella, shawarma, cutlets and I believe you can even eat Thai food, all for an apple and an egg.
• Didn't finish university? Don't worry, for sixty miserable euros you are the proud owner of a university degree from a university of your choice. Indistinguishable from the real thing. Where others took 5 years, you can finish in an afternoon. Who's the loser here? Also for all your international driver's licenses, student cards and press cards. For a small amount of money you suddenly work for “The Economist” and you can keep a twelve-ton truck on the road.
• Thirst? Bars, bars, bars…big bars, small bars, thick bars, thin bars, sweet bars, naughty bars, hot bars, cold bars, inside bars, outside bars, bars, bars bars…
• Nearly broke? Did you blow up all your money in the ashram or did you get stuck in your space cake? Again don't worry, on Kao San Road you can have a bed for three dollars that you can share with the friendliest bed bugs in the eastern hemisphere.

Still, I like coming there. On Khao San. People watching. Much better than TV….