Backpacker ghetto, Khao San Road, to be tidied up

Officials have earmarked 48 million baht (around US$1.6 million) to tidy up Khao San Road. According to The Bangkok Post pavements will be resurfaced with tiles and made all the same level and street vendors will be assigned clearly marked spaces along them. Railings will be introduced to keep pedestrians off the road (or motorbikes off the pavement) and the whole area will be off-limits to mobile carts. The revamp will take five months starting in October.

The area has been popular with the backpacker community for over forty years and featured in Alex Garland’s novel, The Beach. Although the location in the subsequent movie is actually in Phuket since the real thing wasn’t good enough for Hollywood.