This is the legendary backpacker street, object of so much derision and mystique.

Basically, it's hundreds of businesses - guesthouses, restaurants, massage parlors, travel agencies, pirate CD/DVD vendors, internet cafes, silver shops, convenience stores, pharmacies stocked with cheap Viagra, and almost anything else you can imagine - all concentrated into a tiny corner of Bangkok, and all 100% oriented around serving their market of European and Australian discount travelers. As you can imagine, this can get a little weird.