"We are not coming back" : Tourists give the thumbs down to Khao San Road changes

[Thian]

2 hours ago, Yeahbutwhytho said:

They probably went to check it out saw that ksr is now dead they ofcourse had a few drinks by the road.. but they won't be returning - no ones going to come all the way to Khaosan to sit on the sidewalk, something they can literally just do anywhere

Guess you haven't been there for a while, there are loads of great open restaurants now along the road (the road behind ksr), it's the only place in thailand with nice terraces....So nobody has to sit on the street with a beer from 711

[sletraveler]

10 hours ago, colinneil said:

Just another brain dead idea by brain dead people.

The brain dead bar stewards are slowly destroying Bangkok with these stupid schemes, what they fail to realise is tourists love what Kao san road was like before they tried to sterilize it.

Welcome to Bangkok the city where the only thing you will experience is nothing but empty streets.

Empty streets....in Bangkok?   Seriously?

[colinneil]

2 minutes ago, sletraveler said:

Empty streets....in Bangkok?   Seriously?

Your attempt at satire has failed miserably.

The thread is about street vendors, do keep up.

[yellowboat]

What does the junta government have against all things Thai ?  They are determined to ruin Bangkok.  Thailand gets sadder by the day. 

[moontang]

28 minutes ago, Rhys said:

...what next the English Teaching Community goes to?

 

likely some wannabes teachers coming through KSR, on their way to ripoff TEFL programs.  But, on a few recent visits, didn't see anyone resembling a local English teacher.  While it is within their budgets, it just doesn't offer the fun.  And virtually zero freelancers around there....I think you would see teachers as regulars doing Tiger pints around Sukhumvit, but just no reason to go to KSR...It is almost like nothing good can come of it.  

[bananafish]

I took my Thai girlfriend to it a few months back, she'd never been there and I hadn't been in many years. It was enjoyable, she particularly loved all the street food. 

[Thaidream]

Western tourists have all but abandoned Bangkok with the few that still wander about Nana or Cowboy.  It's also noticeable that the portable bars on Sukhumvit have been pushed away and all the food vendors mostly eliminated.   What is left on Sukhumvit after hours is a bunch of African drug pushers and  a mix of hookers from around the World. It is reminiscent of  some American large cities after hours where guns and drugs rule and police sirens wail in the night.

 

Now the powers to be are after KSR.  If they think turning Bangkok into New York; London; Paris and other Western cities will work- they are about to be educated. They will end up with the Worst of the West. as all of the great street food leaves; the vendors that gave Bangkok an exotic feel leaves and the Western tourist heads for everywhere but Thailand.

 

Nana Plaza is not long for this World as the price of land in that area will make the land owner a billionaire once sold and a new Hotel or Mall rises from the ashes.  Cowboy will be the final section to go the way of the rest- it is now just a sliver of bars on their last legs- with owners trying to convince prospective buyers that nothing has changed. In fact, it started changing years ago when the police starting sitting at the entrance while rip offs continued  and the ladies became commercialized.

 

The Hotels will survive with tours from Vietnam; China; India and yes Bangladesh and Pakistan. Turn out the lights- open greasy , cheap buffets or Halal  pit stops. That leaves Pattaya.  Talk about a Thai dream that turns into a nightmare!!!

[moontang]

maybe not NYC or Paris, but KL and Singapore come to mind..and sin is very expensive in those cities.

[cmsally]

32 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

What does the junta government have against all things Thai ?  They are determined to ruin Bangkok.  Thailand gets sadder by the day. 

I think its called autocratic corporate governance and lack of education.

Also a glut in official personnel means they have to get out there and justify their existence.

[marioDC]

This government seems more like a dictatorship against tourism and their own people. How are these people going to survive ? They no longer are allowed to sell their food and other things on the street ... they should all rent a small shop ? They don't have the money for that ! This government is pushing them into crime. Will that help tourism ?

 Okay, I have to admit : the streets in Bkk are cleaner than they were before, but the atmosphere of the city has become ghostlike ... it no longer feels as being in Thailand. I miss the street vendors and the food stalls ...

[jenny2017]

9 hours ago, lanista said:

They dont understand here.  Tourists dont like being  constantly surrounded by military, police and other creeps in uniforms. Thailand is swarming with Thai punks in uniforms. They're everywhere not just the tourist traps.

The toursim industry  has definitely reached the crossroads.

Up to Thailand which way they turn.

Plenty of other destinations for people to visit  with no harrassment by the uniform brigade. 

I was in Laos for a few weeks and hardly saw a cop anywhere. Saw several army guys but they look harmless enough in their pyjama  outfits.

In Thailand there are hundreds of thousands of cops and army types wherever you go. baht , baht  baht !!!

Here's how it started. Thailand wouldn't be the way it is right now without the little Pinocchio and his schizophrenic actions. I took the photo on the first day where soldiers were present almost everywhere. I named the photo...Machine gun "Somchai.:

 

  Also, the food stalls disappeared and many other things that made Bangkok to something that people liked. And it will get worse, I'm afraid. 

[Thaidream]

Things are so bad that while walking along Sukhumvit at Soi 5- at 8 AM- I was offered a 2 for 1 sale....and I'm not talking about  at Foodland.

[jenny2017]

3 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

Things are so bad that while walking along Sukhumvit at Soi 5- at 8 AM- I was offered a 2 for 1 sale....and I'm not talking about  at Foodland.

Soon you'll only have to pay for one and get three free at a one-stop service. If only 50 % of the backies stay away, there'll be hundreds of people jobless. They seem to be pretty good in changing the country into something that might have been one of the reasons why people left their home countries. 

[moontang]

whatever happened to that bleach blond Russian freelancer camped in front of subway..for several years?  Did she finally get deported?  Didn't everyone call her Madona?

[africasiaeuro]

What did I predict.. Nobody will ... Includ8ng myself. Nonsense decision to drive away tourists. 

There arw many alternatives : Hanoi, Nhatrang, Pnomh Penh, Hochiminh, and Vangvieng. So here we go. Failed. Bad for tourism.

[mommysboy]

Quite metaphoric really!

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

Yes i do, been there several times in the last 21 years.

There is loads to do, you just need to know where

 

[kwilco]

This is just Thailand in microcosm....

A case of pooping in one's own nest.

 

Thai authorities simply don't understand tourism or tourists and time and again make retrogressive steps like this.

 

Sometimes they get way with it because the demograpphics change and they are lucky but their market is changing and they are not helping but undermining it.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, Emmess said:

Do what I did. Fed her mobile number in my mobile the first time I went there. Now i don't even need to go there. All the paraphernalia is delivered to my office at a little extra expense.

''Fed her mobile number in my mobile the first time I went there''.  ''Her'', has got nothing to do with

me and the fake things that you can buy at Khaosan Road.

 

 

 

[holy cow cm]

Ding Dong the city is dead. The real calm will be the quiet before the uprising. 

[marqus12]

I read that Burma when the army took power for the first time
after the colonial period was the richest country in south-east Asia .

 

Since then, the Burmese government has had many strange ideas ...

[dontoearth]

12 hours ago, Lungstib said:

Seems like streets full of cars is fine but streets full of people need banning. Weird.

     Considering how many western countries are trying to create walking streets for commerce to take care of traffic congestion and parking problems this really does seem to be a giant step in the wrong direction for Bangkok.  

[sanemax]

11 hours ago, bendejo said:

There is a police station at the end of KSR, just a few paces from where that pic was taken.

Theres also a Burger King 50 meters too the right

[smotherb]

12 hours ago, Get Real said:

Are you talking about eradicating the famous lamb dishes????

How dare they, all the Brits would be up in arms.

[chama]

13 hours ago, Thian said:

Do you think it was good for the image of BKK and Thailand that the whole world knew that on kao sarn road you can buy fake id's, presscards, university degree's, and probably everything else fake...It was just open on the corner of the street for loads of years...

Probably not, and it would be difficult to weed them out...but then is it more difficult to target the bad actors and leave the rest as the tourist expect or is it easier to live without the tourist Baht? Seems like getting rid of the illegal goods makes sense but keeping the tourist draw in place has merit.

[Kalasin Jo]

Bangkok becoming sanitised like Singapore was? It's a crying Shame. Soi Nana will be next, infact it's already changing, with new and expensive bar/ restaurant development. This government is slowly but surely destroying the whole exotic, different, bustling vibe and attraction of Thailand. Street food and tacky "copy" vendors is all part of that vibe.Why go there if it's gone? It's not just in what was iconic Bangkok. Its everywhere. There are already far too many mega shopping malls with the same brand name ( expensive )shops and restaurants as any other city the world over. The whole of IndoChina is losing its unique appeal

[whaleboneman]

10 hours ago, 55Jay said:

Tourists seeking to escape their orderly, sanitized lives can still visit Tijuana for some partially organized chaos.  It was a number of years ago now but the mayor, at one point, instituted a dress code for street vendors.   Comply or be kicked out. 

 

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/600146255/Tijuana-orders-fashion-makeover-for-street-vendors.html

 

And just how much is a tuk tuk from Khaosan road to Tijuana?

[JemJem]

3 hours ago, Thaidream said:

Things are so bad that while walking along Sukhumvit at Soi 5- at 8 AM- I was offered a 2 for 1 sale....and I'm not talking about  at Foodland.

 

So, did you accept the offer ? ?

[mfd101]

In the broad, the interests of residents (including Westerners) are different from those of tourists. The latter want 'quaint' and 'picturesque' and CHEAP - all of which goes with an antique economy of under-educated people struggling to make ends meet in living conditions no modern Westerner would tolerate.

 

But those of us who live here dream of a modern, prosperous, democratic country, well-governed, non-corrupt, with its young people climbing the education ladders and building a better life for everyone, with safe roads and a decent welfare system as well as rewards for hard work.

 

Well, in the broad, you can't have both (unless the tourists are willing to accept the plastic imitation replacing the old ways & products). As usual in life, we have to make choices and, being adults, we have to accept the consequences of our choices.

[Joker Man]

Another way of banning is coming. When we banned all, I don't know what will be left.