15/08/2009 - Chatuchak Market

Our flat is crudely lit with bright white bulbs that seems to be the norm in Thailand. Our best educated guess on this is that it keeps the bugs away (anyone reading this who knows the answer, as Google has failed me, please let us know). Because of this we needed to go somewhere to get some mood lighting and a couple of throws for the couch, bed, etc, and were told that this place has it all.

This weekend market is so big it’s got its own tourist information center and printed map. If you want to do this in a day, you’re fooling yourself. It’s massive. It crams its 10,000 stalls into 28 acres of land in northern Bangkok. We’d heard it gets crowded so we left early and arrived at Mo Chit Skytrain station at 8:30. The Skytrain has two lines - Silom Line and Sukhumvit Line. To get to Mo Chit from Ekkamai only cost us 40 Baht each. You can also get an unlimited one day travel card for the Skytrain (also called the BTS)for 120 Baht which will allow you to go to any stop on any Skytrain line.

The market is split into 14 sections: Food and Drink, Books, Antiques and Collectibles, Handicrafts, Clothing and Accessories, Pets and Accessories, Used Clothing, Gardening Tools, Furniture, Art and Galleries, Ceramics, Gifts and Souvenirs, Massage and Spa and Others. It’s only a short walk from there to the tourist info center where you can pick up your essential map. We told ourselves we had to stick to a couple sections of the market only and headed straight for the handicrafts section. It was full of all the usual trinkets and bits you see in expat’s houses – wooden elephants, joss stick holders, little baskets, etc. E’s eyes lit up and we both started bartering straight away. For the first time since we’d been in Thailand I didn’t get my usual dizzy vertigo feeling and absolutely loved winding my way through the crowded lanes. It’s not manic here, either. We both thought the vendors would be after the hard sell with lots of shouting and frantic bidding going on. It was actually pretty quiet, even when it started to fill up – there was just a respectable low hubbub of eager Thai’s, tourists and expats bartering for their goods which made it even more pleasant in relentless heat. One highlight was a traditional Thai instrument shop we stumbled upon and E asked one of the assistants to play on the Saw-U, a two stringed instrument with a coconut shell for its head. We remembered where the shop was and promised ourselves to head back when we could. You can check out their website at www.jidathaicraft.com. It’s in Thai but there are pictures to help you navigate the site. We managed to find what we needed (a pair of small wooden lamps, some hand made paper fairy lights, a couple Thai triangular cushions for the balcony with a straw mat for them to sit on, a couple of bin baskets and I’ve forgotten what else…) and after 4 hours of goggle eyed shopping, we caught a cab home (yes, don’t get on a bus if you’ve got loads of bags).

            Tally:

            Thai silk cover (king size) = 700 Baht

            Thai farmer’s hat = 35 Baht

            Straw mat = 100 Baht

            Two large Thai triangle floor cushions = 750 Baht

            Pair of wooden lamps = 350 Baht

            Paper fairy lights = 150 Baht

            Bin baskets x3 = 60 Baht

            Total = 2145 (39 quid).