Market shopping in Bangkok
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Chatuchak Weekend Market
Among the largest markets in the world, Chatuchak Weekend Market seems to unite everything buyable, from used vintage sneakers to baby squirrels. JJ, as it’s also known, is the ideal place to finally pick up those gifts for people back home, not to mention a pretty item or two for your own home. The market is roughly divided into thematic sections, the best guide to these being Nancy Chandler’s Map of Bangkok. Because Chatuchak is a Thai institution, food also plays a significant role, and there are numerous drinks and snack vendors, and several good restaurants on the outside edges of the market. Plan to spend a full day, as there’s plenty to see, do and buy. But com…
reviewed
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Amulet Market
Catholics with their parade of saints and protective medals will recognise a great kinship with this streetside amulet market. Ranging from pendant-sized to medallion-sized, prá krêu·ang (amulets) come in various classes, from rare objects or relics (like tusks, antlers or the dentures of abbots) to images of Buddha or famous monks embossed in bronze, wood or clay. Itinerant dealers spread their wares on blankets along the broken pavement across from the temple, and more-permanent shops proliferate in the sunless alleyways along the river. Taxi drivers, monks and average folk squat alongside the displays inspecting novel pieces like practised jewellers. Mixed in with …
reviewed
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Pratunam Market
The emphasis here is on clothes, in particular T-shirts, and the Baiyoke Garment Center, the immense open-air market that comprises much of the area, is the best place in town to buy that black Iron Maiden T-shirt you’ve had your eye on.
The greater market area occupies the neighbourhood behind the shopfronts on the corner of Th Phetchaburi and Th Ratchaprarop, and also includes several like-minded malls: Indra Square, which carries mostly women’s clothing; Pratunam Centre, featuring a decent selection of Thai handicrafts and silver; City Complex and Krung Thong Plaza, two nearly identical wholesale clothing malls; and, across the street, the five-storey Platinum Fash…
reviewed
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Nonthaburi Market
Located a short walk from Tha Nonthaburi, the northernmost extent of the Chao Phraya Express boats, this is one of the most expansive and atmospheric produce markets in the area. Exotic fruits, towers of dried chillies, smoky grills and the city’s few remaining rickshaws form a very un-Bangkok backdrop here. Come early though, as most vendors are gone by 9am. To get to the market, take any northbound Chao Phraya Express boat and get off at Tha Nonthaburi, the final stop. The market is a two-minute walk along the main road from the pier.
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Phahurat Market
If it sparkles, then this market has it. Phahurat proffers boisterous Bollywood-coloured textiles, traditional Thai dance costumes, tiaras, sequins, wigs and other accessories to make you look like a cross-dresser, a mŏr lam (Thai country music) performer, or both. This is cloth city, and amid the colour spectacle are also good deals on machine-made Thai textiles and children’s clothes.
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Ratchada Market
Most night markets are dominated by knock-off Vuitton but this one fancies vintage and Vespas instead. In Thailand, Vespas were once only workhorses used to deliver bolts of linoleum, but a boho crew of Thais have joined the global trend of outfitting these retro scooters as portable fashion accessories and this weekly flea market is both their supply house and showroom.
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Thanon Sukhumvit Market
Leaving on the first flight out tomorrow morning? Never fear about gifts for those back home; the street vendors will find you with faux Fendi handbags, soccer kits, ‘art’, sunglasses and jewellery, to name a few. You’ll also find stacks of nudie DVDs, Chinese throwing stars, penis-shaped lighters and other questionable gifts for your high-school-aged brother.
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Vespa Market
Uniting urban cowboys, hip-hoppers, wannabe mods and pissed-off punks, this expansive outdoor market is a virtual melting pot of Bangkok youth subculture. The original emphasis was on vehicles, and you can still find heaps of vintage Vespas and Lambrettas, Volkswagens and Austin Minis for sale or show betwixt quirky T-shirts, used sneakers and modern antiques.
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Thanon Khao San Market
The main guesthouse strip in Banglamphu is a day and night shopping bazaar, selling all but the baby and the bath water. Cheap T-shirts, trendy purses, wooden frogs, fuzzy puppets, bootleg CDs, hemp clothing, fake student ID cards, knock-off designer wear, souvenirs, corn on the cob, orange juice… You name it, they’ve got it.
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Khlong Toey Market
This wholesale wet market, one of the city’s largest, is inevitably the origin of many of the meals you’ll eat during your stay in Bangkok. Get there early, and although some corners of the market can’t exactly be described as photogenic, be sure to bring a camera to capture the stacks of durians or cheery fishmongers.
reviewed
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Soi 16, Th Charoen Krung
This ancient fresh market splays along the cramped alley between Th Yaowarat and Th Charoen Krung. It’s fascinating, but anyone who suffers even the mildest form of claustrophobia should not contemplate it. North of Th Charoen Krung funerary items for ritual burnings dominate the open-air stalls.
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Saphan Phut Night Bazaar
On the Bangkok side of Tha Saphan Phut, this night market has bucket-loads of cheap clothes, late-night snacking and a lot of people-watching. As Chatuchak Weekend Market becomes more design oriented, Saphan Phut has filled the closets of fashion-forward, baht-challenged teenagers.
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Sampeng Lane
Plastic cuteness in bulk, from pencil cases to pens, stuffed animals, hair flotsam and enough bling to kit out a rappers convention, all hang out near the eastern end of the alley. Closer to Phahurat, the main merchandise changes to bolts of fabric from India.
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Soi Lalai Sap
The ideal place to buy an authentic Thai secretary’s uniform, this ‘money-dissolving soi’ has mobs of vendors selling insanely cheap but frumpy clothing, as well as heaps of snacks and housewares.
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