The Beach

A young backpacker's Thailand: the traveller ghetto of the Khao San Road, then the long haul south to the party islands of the Gulf, and finally a rumoured paradise hidden in a marine park. The map runs from central Bangkok down to Surat Thani and out across the archipelago of Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngan and Ang Thong, where the secret beach is imagined.

Richard

Khao San Road, Bangkok

Bangkok

The novel opens in Bangkok's backpacker heart, the Khao San Road, a strip of cheap guesthouses, bars and travel touts. Here the narrator takes a room, meets a wild-eyed neighbour and comes into possession of a hand-drawn map to a secret island beach. It is a real street, long the first stop for budget travellers arriving in Thailand.

Opening chapters, Bangkok

explicit Garland names the Khao San Road; this marks the real backpacker street in the Banglamphu district of central Bangkok.

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