It was a weekend when we were in Bangkok city of Thailand and had heard a lot about its weekend market called - Chatuchak Weekend Market. Since we had time during one of the evenings before heading towards some of the nigh hubs of the city, so we planned a visit to Chatuchak. This Blogpost shares about what makes this a special market in Bangkok and what kind of things you can buy from this market only. Along with that we will share some shopping tips to make best of your visit & enrich your shopping experience. Is it only about shopping? Not really. As a traveler from other country Chatuchak exposes you to lot of interesting things and experiences at one place, so it's even worth if you don't intend to do shopping. This blogpost would tell you more about why do we say that visiting Chatuchak market is still worth if you don't want to go there for shopping.
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There is a great range of art products in Chatuchak weekend Market and that too at reasonable rate. Lot of the shops in Chatuchak Weekend market are open for negotiation and the ones which are open for negotiation demand good level of negotiation skills :). So you need to negotiate hard to get a great price. Personally I like places where prices are fixed and I don't need to spend time negotiating. Other way to say is that my negotiation skills are not that great, although it varies where do I need to negotiate :).
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Lot of these art shops at Chatuchak also reminded me of Chiang Mai and it's night market. Bangkok is comparatively expensive place to buy this stuff when compared to Chiang Mai. So if you visit Chiang Mai, you can get pretty good deals for stuff you like. Some negotiation in Chiang Mai Market would also be needed but returns are more on negotiation in Chiang Mai vs Chatuchak market in Bangkok.
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The Chatuchak Weekend Market is the largest market in Thailand which is also known as JJ Market. When I got to know about this claim, there was no reason for me to disagree. I couldn't think of any other market I have visited in the past, which is comparable to Chatuchak. For that matter, we couldn't explore it well as we had to head to another place in an hour, so we walked around Chatuchak only for one hour and during this time we didn't repeat any section of this weekend market in Bangkok.
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There are lot of interesting shops in Chatuchak Weekend Market and it doesn't really matter if you want to do shopping or not. The market itself is an interesting place to explore & get exposed some really interesting Thai art & craft stuff.
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Chatuchak Weekend Market has more than 14000 stalls and more than 10000 vendors. Chatuchak Market sells many different kinds things including plants, antiques, consumer electronics, cosmetics, pets, food and drinks, fresh and dry food, ceramics, furniture and home accessories, clothing, and books.
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There are lot of vendors selling small toys for kids walking around the market. Chatuchak is equally popular amongst local people and there are various places to sit around to enjoy your family time. Tourists certainly don't miss this market. Above photograph was clicked in one of the parks in Chatuchak Market.
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It is claimed to be world's largest and most diverse weekend market, with over 200,000 visitors every weekend. That's an insane number but not surprising at all. We visited the market on Saturday and there were huge queues all around. But you kind of enjoy those queues and the rush.
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Interestingly you would find lot of Bamboo products in Thailand Markets and especially in Chatuchak Weekend Market.
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There is a Metro station just outside Chatuchak Market, so if you are close to Metro station in Bangkok, your commute can be super easy and comfortable. Bangkok Metro is usually crowded but reliable in terms of time and air conditioned.
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If you are around a place which is not close to Metro station, then you have other options like Bus, Taxi or Tuktuk depending upon distance from your spot to Chatuchak Weekend Market. Google App shows relatively accurate schedule of buses in Bangkok - Capital city of Thailand.
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There is a this huge green landscapes where people take a break from craziness of Chatuchak market & relax. You can grab some snacks, food or drinks and relax here. It looked like a picnic area for Bangkok families, but not sure if my interpretation is correct or not.
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We took bus from Khao San Market to Chatuchak and it's a direct one. If you spend time in Chatuchak during the day and want to spend night at most exciting street of Bangkok, then you can get direct bus from here.
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