Khaosan Road or in Thai, Thanon Khaosan (Thanon means street in Thai) was used to be the location of courtiers’ residences. The most common productr of the area is milled rice (Khaosan means rice), so the road was named ‘Khaosan Road’ for this reason.
Khaosan Road in the past. Photo by https://www.silpa-mag.com/culture/article_19050
In the past, foreign visitors who visited this famous street were wealthy ones. After the Vietnam War, many veterans and hippies visited and stayed in the country permanently. The affordable rents and guesthouses then increased their numbers significantly. Therefore, Khaosan Road became famous as the center of backpackers, and the important commercial area.
By Kevin Poh https://www.flickr.comphotos7679455@N034038371810) [cc-by-2.0]
Especially, during Songkran Festival, local people including foreign travelers come and celebrate the festival by playing water fight. It’s the festival that all people enjoy. Songkran Festival is the Thai New Year by the way.
Water fight during Songkarn Festival by https://www.allthaievent.com/event/17073/
Khaosan Road will come alive at night. There will be many kinds of shops on each side of the street such as international restaurants, Thai dish kiosks, bars, massage shops, hair braid shops, second-handed book ships, tailor-made suit shops, casual wear cloth shops etc with afforable prices.
Locals and foreign tourist hanging out at night by bangkoktravel.com
You could walk along while shopping on the road in the style of a pedestrain mall. Planning to come here, I suggest you visit it during early evening because it’s the best time to be there.
the street during covid 19 by mgronline.co.th