as far away from Khaosan as you can unless you only want to meet backpackers and be ripped off. Try in either China Town of around the Victory Monument :)

there are lots of perfectly good places to stay near khao san road. i suggest not staying on khaosan, since it's pretty crazy there. but soi rambuttri, on the part that's across the big road and the police station near the wat (sorry, have not idea what it's called, though it's called samsen across the road to the east), there are several new places, and many of them are doing online bookings now.

rambuttri village was clean and convenient when i stayed there. there's another one next door whose name escapes me, but it was very similar. i also recommend the new siam guesthouses (now there's 1, 2, 3 and riverview, i think) -- this is a very smoothly run growing chain that costs about 800 baht a night, and you get a comfortable room with good locks, hot water, king bed, and aircon... and a computer key lock.

sawasdee is also a growing chain, but every one of their properties is different, so you have to check out the photos, and don't go to the one called sawasdee smile, which is just a newly painted version of an old-fashioned khao san hell hole (as i found out when i booked it online in a moment of insanity, though i didn't stay there).

i have stayed at the hotel de moc my last 4-5 times, which is a bit pricey (1100 a night, if you book in advance online through agoda.com or asiarooms.com) -- more posh, with pool, room service 24 hours and a buffet breakfast included... i like it because it's more thai and foreign business people, and few backpackers... and they have free tuk-tuk service to khao san since they're the same people that own the buddy lodge there.

depending on how long you'll be there, you can always book one of the more expensive places for a night or two, and then shop around. for instance, on samsen soi 2, there's a place in an old thai house that's cheap and very comfortable for 300 baht or so (adjusting for inflation) and there are several little friendly places tucked away that you only find out about by checking them out.

if you are traveling alone, i do not recommend you stay at the supercheap backpacker places. a little more service goes a long way for solo travelers, i think.

and i used to stay at a nice place in chinatown, but chinatown is pretty crazy, and i prefer being near the services that you can get on khao san, since i'm usually only there for a few days at most.

and a walk from khao san, but highly recommended by many people, is the shanti guesthouse. google it. i haven't stayed there, but it looks great.

Hey,
There is a great B & B / Hostel called Suk 11 near the Skytrain Naqna station on Soi 11 and Sukhumvit. Here is their link: www.suk11.com/ I would highly recommend it, fun people.

kiote