You are in Bangkok and itching to fill up those suitcases with great shopping finds. Suddenly, you realize that it is a weekend and your eyes light up. The timing is just perfect! You immediately leave your hotel in Bangkok (the Sena Place Hotel is one of the nearer hotels in the area) and head to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. You decide to take the Skytrain, which is the best and fastest way to get there, and get off at the Mo Chit Station. Just another five minute walk from this station will bring you directly to the pure shopping bliss.

Anybody who has been to Thailand would know about the Chatuchak Market. It is a shopper’s paradise and a great place for bargain hunting. It is fondly called as the world’s largest open-air weekend flea market. It is visited by over 200, 000 visitors in one day and contains more than 15, 000 shops that stretch as far as your eyes can see. With the extensive range of items that are being sold here, you will find everything that you are looking for from clothes, to shoes, to Thai handicrafts, jewelry, plants, books, home accessories and decor, ceramics, silverware, antiques, paintings, sculptures and even live animals!

The published operating hours are from 9:00 am – 6:00pm every Saturday and Sunday only but most stalls open a little after 9:00 am and they start closing their stalls when the sun starts to set. The Chatuchak market is also open during Fridays but only caters to wholesalers so goods are usually sold in bulk.

One must remember, though, that the Chatuchak Market gets really crowded which means that this is no place for the faint-hearted. First time Chatuchak shoppers are in for a different thrill. You have to prepare yourself to walk through crowded alleys, rub with the sweaty bodies of the other shoppers and the all-time high of bargaining like crazy. I highly suggest that you go there very early in the morning when the heat is still quite bearable and the air is a bit cooler. Plus, you can have a head start before the thick crowd even arrives. Remember to bring gallons of water with you to quench your thirst. I highly recommend that you wear shorts and sleeveless tops because aside from keeping you cool from the scorching heat, light clothing would also allow you to fit clothes as there are no changing rooms available in this flea market. If you really want to try on apparel items before buying them, you can only wear them on top of your clothes. Wear a comfortable pair of flip flops or flat sandals so that you can avoid having sore feet or blisters while roaming around the market.

Another important thing that you must remember is that almost all items here are negotiable. As a guide, you can slash the first offered price in half and then just work your way slowly up. Even if you see big signs on display that say goods are being sold at 99 baht or 50 baht, don’t be afraid to try to lower the prices even for a bit more. Haggling can be a bit tricky because most store owners know very little conversational English. Because of this language barrier, it would help a lot if you have a calculator handy.

If you would like to get more discounts then try to shop in bulk. Once you have seen something that you like in a particular shop, start haggling by trying to cut the price in half just like what was mentioned earlier. If you still haven’t gotten the price that you want, ask the store keeper if the price can be lowered if you buy in bigger quantities. This usually works as store keepers would rather make a sale with a bit of profit than not to have any sale at all.

Another great way to get more bargains at the Chatuchak Market is by shopping either very early in the morning or when the shops are already about to close at night. In the morning, store keepers are anxious to make the first sale of the day. In the afternoon, store keepers tend to lower the prices of their goods even more when they would gladly welcome any last minute profit that they can get before they close their shops and call it a day.

You will also notice that the entire market is divided into a couple of sections like fashion section, household section, plants sections and a section for pets. So even with all those shopping tips that I’ve mentioned earlier, it is still smart to try to get the lowest price immediately for an item that you’ve spotted in one store. Do not attempt to scour the entire place to see which store offers the lowest price for one item as it is extremely difficult to move around. You will only lose precious time if you attempt to trace your way back to one store.

After you are done with you shopping and would like to relax a bit, then it is time for you to scout the food stalls for some snacks or refreshing drinks to cool you down. You will be wide eyed with all the endless choices that are available to you. Take your pick from all the attractive dishes that are on display like roasted pork, rice toppings, curry, dry and wet noodles, and fruity refreshments that will surely give you back your voice that grew hoarse from all the haggling.

In this wondrous place called the Chatuchak Weekend Market where there is always something to see and something fantastic to buy, you will need to be recharged in no time and ready for another round of shopping. 

Posted in Thailand, Things to do

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 5:16 pm and is filed under Thailand, Things to do. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.