If you are looking for bargains galore in Thailand then you cannot go past Chatuchak market Bangkok. It is one of the biggest indoor/outdoor markets in Thailand and perhaps the world, Chatuchak market Bangkok is absolutely immense. I really think you would have trouble looking through the entire market even if you spent the entire day there. I have been shopping there on a few occasions for hours at a time and realized I had only been covering one small area of this gigantic market. Some Thai friends of mine who live in Bangkok say they have been going to Chatuchak market for many years and still find some new area they have never seen every time they go.
Chatuchak market Bangkok is a weekend market place and is not open during the weekdays. Chatuchak market is conveniently located at the end of the BTS skytrain line at Mor Chit. From the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok it will take you about half an hour by taxi to get to the weekend market although it could take a lot longer as Bangkok traffic is insane to say the least.
Traveling through Chatuchak market can be hard work since it is normally very hot outside and even hotter walking through the labyrinth of internal shops. It is such a sweat box deep inside the Chatuchak shopping canals that I have seen people pass out from heat exhaustion. Although I like to go there, since there is so much variety to choose from when shopping, every time I go I always find the indoor shopping extremely tiring and end up drinking so much water it becomes a problem finding a toilet in amongst the phenomenal crowds. It is believed as many as half a million people congregate at Chatuchak market in Bangkok every weekend. Bangkok is an overpopulated city at the best of times but Chatuchak weekend market is by far the busiest place I have been anywhere in Thailand.
Although it is hot it is still fun and great if you are looking for something in particular. Chatuchak market has anything and everything you could ever imagine. Where the problem lies though is finding it as there are just so many shops and with them being grouped together in such a terrific maze I have never been able to relocate a particular shop once I walked away. I once bought an item there and went back the following weekend to buy some more at the same shop but after hours just searching for that shop I ended up leaving having no idea whether I even came close to finding the location of that particular shop. If you see something you like at Chatuchak market Bangkok buy it and don’t walk away. All of the shops are extremely cheap so you probably will not find it anywhere else significantly cheaper.
I don’t think I need to mention specifically what is available at Chatuchak market Bangkok other than to say everything is available and if one shop doesn’t have the color you want in that particular item, there are thousands of other shops that probably do. I wanted a specific type of indoor plant that rarely needed watering for my apartment in Bangkok one time and saw a picture of this plant on the internet so I downloaded a picture of this plant from the internet and then went to the plant section of Chatuchak market and sure enough, they not only had the type of plant I was looking for but other hybrid types as well that were in different colors.
If you have the time and patience you will find what you are looking for at Chatuchak market whether it is rare dinosaur eggs or a life size model elephant made out of old mobile phones. Yes everything is available at Chatuchak market Bangkok and when you go, don’t forget the sunscreen but then again you can always buy it there, if you can find it.
Post a Comment