I can just suggest you what everybody seems to do: Take a taxi to Khaosan Road and walk around the area. Have a look at the rooms of two or three guesthouses and then choose one.

It is no problem to find accomodation there.

i’ve stayed a few times at a great little place called the Nice Palace. i don’t have the contact info but on the other side of the street is Canaan Baptist Church. their address is: Canaan Baptist Church 42/17 Soi Intramara 1/1 Sutthisarn Road Phayathai Bankok 10400

My experience was only in high end hotels. I think my company was spending $200 USD per night. That was like $8000 baht at the time. Sorry, not much help here.

I stayed at a guesthouse called New Siam http://www.newsiam.net/ It was clean, had hot showers and wasn’t right on KhaoSan Rd, but close enough to walk there in a couple of minutes. I heard the New Siam II was nice too. I think you should find all the info on the website.

Also some friends of mine stayed at a place called My Apartment (I think) which was just around the corner from the New Siam and they had a good experience there.

Ah, just thinking about it makes me want to go back. Someday…

Hope you have a great trip!!!

We stayed at the Viengtai Hotel and we’re very pleased. It wasn’t upmarket at all, but clean and tidy. (not a guest house -more expensive than a guest house, but well worth it – still really cheap) We had a large room with a private bathroom. Breakfast was included. Service was great and they held our packs for a few weeks while we went up North. It’s on a small street just blocks from Khoasan Road.

Depends what you mean by “budget.” You can Priceline a 5-star hotel for about USD $60. I did that at the Westin Grande in Sukhumvhit.

Other than that, then Khao Sahn is probably your most reliable and convenient, if you don’t mind the constant noise, bad food, and—pardon me—all-white tourist scene.

New Siam from marionmade looks pretty nice.

see, im gettin off this thing. Everybody seems to ask the most innocuous questions that are usually slap-your-forehead obvious… and by the time i get on here to even answer a question, what’s the point?? there’s already 20 answers, better than I could’ve done.

Accomodatoin in Thailand is cheap everywhere…

I went to White Orchid in Bangkok… 3 star hotel and it was livable. Most of the time you’ll be spending outside anyway

regardless, it is going to be fun fun fun! so get your @ss out there!

Our favorite place to stay while in Bangkok was “Bamboo Guest House” which was a lovely family run teak home on a nice Jungle lined street in Noi Banglamphu, near the river and North of Kao San Road, I believe on Soi One. Its off the beaten path a bit, but still close to the racket, I mean tourist area.

The cool thing about the place is that you are in the real Bangkok.

There are so many guesthouses around Khao San Road, and competition is so fierce, that it’s hard to go wrong. One caveat about staying near KSR is that the budget guesthouses fill up fast, and many don’t take reservations So it’s best to time your arrival so you can start checking out rooms at 9 or 10 am.

I stayed at a couple branches of Sawasadee Smile Inns. The rooms were small, but clean and cheap.

The area between the west end of Khao San Road, and Pra Athit Road is a little quieter than the neighborhoods immediately adjacent to KSR. Also on Pra Athit Road are a number of cafes and restaurants that cater mainly to Thai students, versus the Khao San places filled with rowdy Australian teenagers.

On both visits, I stayed at The Wild Orchid near Khao San Road. It was close enough to walk to Khao San Rd but far enough away to still be quiet. The rooms were VERY clean and they offer a range or rooms from no fan and no bathroom (it is down the hall and clean) to air conditioning and en suite. They have an open air restaurant donwstairs and an Internet cafe. They were very nice there.

It might not be the cheapest, but it was not very expensive either.

Khao San Rd accomodations
Travel Fish

WILDORCHIDVILLA, is between Kaosan rd and Prahatit Rd, 500-600 baht per night.

To book before: 02 629 43 78 / fax 02 629 00 46 email: wild_orchid_villa@hotmail.com

Address: 8 Soi Chanasongkarm, Pra athit Rd BKK

They do not allow Thais in the rooms, so if that affects your plans, this should be noted.

Pictures of The Wild Orchid

Have a great trip.

In Bangkok Khaosan Road is the best place for inexpensive guesthouses. It is noisy and dense but one can find rooms from 200 Baht +. On the low end, expect a small room with a fan – no a/c or television.

The area is lively during the day and at night. During the day you’ll find the streets packed with deaf street vendors and travelers looking for a bargain. At night, you might find the road closed off to traffic and people dancing in the street. Most of the travelers are european backpackers so don’t be surprised to see so many ‘westerners’.

Khaosan also has some of the best used bookstores in Bangkok, in my opinion. Wander down one of the many interesting alleys and perhaps even trade one of your books.

It is close to the Chao Praya river which, if you like, you can hop on a river taxi and see Wat Arun, or get a massage by the best (the monks) after checking out the enormous reclining buddha at Wat Pho or visiting the King’s palace or Wat Pra Keow.

If you are not particular about accomodations then Khao San is a great starting place to a lot of destinations within Thailand and nearby Laos and Cambodia. There are plenty of travel agencies on the road with trips to northern thailand and nearby floating markets, etc. If you like, rent the film “The Beach” although the beginning of that film is anot actually filmed at KhaoSan Road (its way too busy) it does give one some idea of what the area is like.

I lived near Ayutthaya for awhile and would frequently come to KhaoSan road just to be able to speak English with the ‘farangs’ before heading off to another part of the country.

Enjoy your trip. KhaoSan is probably not the best introduction to Bangkok but if you’re looking for a bargain, then you can stay here and travel wherever you like. Pick up a Nancy Chandler map while there.

Suk11 is the best place in Bangkok to stay. Clean, convenient and cheap!

The airport bus stops virtually at the door, and you’re within walking distance to the Skytrain, Subway lines, major bus-routes and the express-way.

Not the cheapest by Bangkok standards, but if your after a very cheap place in BKK you won’t find anything either “clean” or “convenient” and you have to put up with down-and-out backpackers on their last dollar.

If you end up in the Khao San Rd area, don’t stay anywhere too cheap unless you can afford to have all your belongings stolen, and make sure to keep your valuables close to you at all times.

I recommend going to Suk11 first (especially if you’ve been on a long-haul flight), then go and compare the cheaper places in Kho-San road and see what you prefer. It’s worth booking ahead if you know your arrival dates since they’re often booked out on Friday nights and weekends. It’s very popular with Thai’s comming to Bangkok for the weekend.

One last piece of advice, beware about recommendations for accomodation in BKK however, because the quality of any one place can change from excellent to sub-standard within months depending on change of ownership/managment/staff and other incidents (murders/thefts/scams etc). Some (usually foreign-owned) guesthouses are notorious for stacking discussion boards and websites like this one with good reviews also. I’ve been to look at several places that appeared great online, with heaps of positive reviews, only to find they were overcrowded, dirty and inconveniently located.

I would suggest Century Park hotel. It’s relatively affordable, clean and comfortable:)

As someone mentioned in an earlier answer, it depends on what you mean by “budget”, but more important it depends on what you mean by “convenient.” If you are looking to partake of the risque nightlife that Bangkok is famous if not infamous for I recommend the Nana Hotel. Getting there is a snap, just tell any taxi driver “Nana” (pronounced nah nah) at the airport. I do have full contact information. If you want it, email me. You can Google it with “Nana Hotel Bangkok”. I think I paid about $30 USD a night for a deluxe room. It is located across the street from Nana Plaza. You can Google that as well. To put it politely, for the sake of those who might find such matters objectionable, you can invite your guests to vist with you in the privacy and comfort of your own hotel room. Granted it’s no 5 star hotel, but it is clean and comfortable. There is a skytrain station very close and there are a lot of shops and restaraunts nearby.