https://www.scmp.com/rss/266719/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The Khao San Road of 1992, when I first stayed there, looked very little like it does now, as the Bangkok tourist strip undergoes major renovation that is set to be completed in February. Back then, the road was lined with ramshackle guest houses divided up into rooms with plywood walls, shared bathrooms and ceiling fans that cost around US$3 per night to rent. Travel agents sold bus tickets and package tours for places like the Crocodile Farm and Floating Market, next to street vendors peddling... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3042806/khao-san-road-bangkok-low-rent-slum-flashpacker-central?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3042806/khao-san-road-bangkok-low-rent-slum-flashpacker-central?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Dec 2019 23:00:15 +0000 On the second floor of a deserted market in Bangkok’s Chinatown, the tour group stops beside a spirit house, which looks like a miniature Buddhist temple on a pedestal. Festooned with garlands and blinking fairy-lights, these shrines, found all over Thailand, are put up to house a guardian spirit which can ward off misfortune and malicious ghosts. The deities on the altar are Buddhist, Hindu and Chinese. Next to them stands an effigy of a little boy known as a kuman thong (golden child), a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3031861/dark-tourism-three-ghost-tours-southeast-asia-where?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3031861/dark-tourism-three-ghost-tours-southeast-asia-where?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Oct 2019 23:45:05 +0000