Khao San Road is where budget travellers converge, exchange tales, party and prepare for their next stint on the road. The popular book 'The Beach' called it "the centre of the backpacking universe", and judging by the flip-flop wearing masses that use it as their base for exploring the rest of Thailand and Southeast Asia - and who have done so for the past 20 years - it's a phrase that sums it up perfectly.

At under 1km in length, it packs in countless budget guesthouses and mid-range hotels, fusion restaurants, clubs, bars, bookshops, budget travel agents, tailors, chemists, clothing and counterfeit stalls, internet cafes, food carts, tattoo shops and much, much more. So much in fact, that the shops, people and party spirit have spilled over into Soi Rambuttri, within walking distance away.

With its carefree, anything-goes vibe it's quite unlike anywhere else in Bangkok and, probably, the world. In recent years there's been a subtle makeover, with an influx of fast-food outlets, swanky bars and mid-range hotels helping the area to shed its shabby image. Only slightly though - it's still got an in-your-face energy that is all its own, and is still the stage for a cast of bizarre, kaleidoscopic characters. Today, so infectious is its atmosphere that it's also popular with locals, especially artisans and art students. Stay too long though and it may all wear a little thin.

Located within the Old City (Rattanakosin), Khao San Road makes an ideal base from where to explore the city's ancient attractions. Only a short walk or even shorter taxi ride away is the Grand Palace, the National Museum, the historical Sanam Luang Area, Democracy Monument, the Golden Mount Temple, and the bohemian vibes of leafy Phra Arthit Road. The soothing charms of the Chao Praya River, and a nifty ferry taxi stop, are but a ten-minute stroll away, from where it's easy and dirt cheap to navigate your way up and down the river.

The road itself is an exhilarating and often contradictory melting pot. If you come here to do only one thing, it should be to do a bout of people watching. Entire afternoons or evenings can easily be spent watching a bizarre procession of all colours, nationalities and persuasions saunter by, nearly all of them on a hedonistic mission of some sort or other. Do so while chomping on some fusion foods at a trendy restaurant, while sipping on a beer or while getting your hair braided at one of many makeshift hair salons.

Stuffed to overflowing with shops, market stalls and vendors, Khao San Road has a million and one fun, tacky and some useful things too for you to blow your baht on. Shops give backpackers - and the upscale Birkenstock brigade who also now flock here - everything they need, from travel agents and tailors to chemists, convenience stores, banks and bookshops. Free-wheeling commerce - market stalls, shops on wheels and vendors - do brisk trade too.

This multicolored assortment includes funky beach attire alongside jewellery, fisherman's pants, textiles, Thai crafts, knock-off CDs, computer programs, hammocks, ethnic jewellery, shoes and anything else you can squeeze inside a backpack. The best time to head out shopping is in the evening, when it's cooler and the range of things on sale is even more intriguing. Enterprising, baby-faced Thais come down to sell everything and anything from funky hair accessories and exotic blouses to one-off T-shirts and vintage clothing.

Khao San Road provides many kinds of businesses. You can see an endless supply of guest houses, travel agencies, used book stores, and the booming internet cafes. You can also see many bars and restaurants where new Hollywood videos are shown all day long. As the centre for backpackers, it is a good starting point for them to get to know Bangkok and Thailand.

Friendships grow easily on Khao San Road. Just eating in the same restaurant, people soon find themselves talking about the places they have been. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Khao San Road can accommodate 8,000 tourists a day. The high season is between January and April with the peak period at Songkran time. Then the number of tourists staying in the guest houses rises to 10,000 a day. Khao San Road offers all kinds of services to the tourists, including visa applications for Indochinese countries. Not only foreigners, but also many Thais come here for an inexpensive tour to other provinces.