Chatuchak Market was the main reason we made a trip to Bangkok. Chatuchak is known as a very super big flea market (about 5,000 stalls according to Wikipedia) selling anything and everything.
To get to Chatuchak, you can either get a taxi or by train. Chatuchak market is adjacent to the Kamphaengphet station of the MRT Bangkok Metro Blue Line, or about a 5 minute walk from the Mo Chit station of the BTS Skytrain Sukhumvit Line and another MRT station of Suan Chatuchak (Chatuchak Park).
The market is so huge, you'll probably have a problem of where to start and how to get back to where you came from. Even before embarking on the trip, we've heard so much about the gigantic-ness of this flea market and some valuable advices about "don't even think of walking around to survey the price as if there's a good bargain at the first stall, you'll never be able to find the same stall back!"
In other words, See! Bargain! Buy!
Shoes and sneakers. They probably have all the fake Nike models here :p
One whole stall dedicated to white shirts, for those with white shirt fetish :p
Colorful accessories for the ladies, very cheap too!
Those colorful lights made from recycled paper!
Home deco items. If you like Buddha statues and carvings, you'll be spoilt for choice here too. Problem is, how to carry it back home??
Bags galore! A friend of ours had so much shopping bags that he got fed up and bought a backpackers bag to stuff all the shopping loot. Haha, real shopaholics I tell you.
Everything at 59 Bahts, about RM5.90? Mostly silver accessories, but nah we'll give that a pass.
Smileys in all colours and nationalities! Oooh I spot a Bob Marley color too.
And then there's this really awesome stall which sells paper flowers, in all species, shapes and sizes! They are all made of recycled paper and it's just so overwhelming. Perfect place to go if you like doing papercrafts, it's a craft haven :)
A mini chinese dulcimer
Street performers
We also managed to spot the Yang Qin (Chinese Dulcimer)! Well for those who know me, I play the Yang Qin so I was quite surprised to see it in Bangkok.
The other stalls worth mentioning would be one that sells laptop bags that comes in different fabrics, colors and graphics at 350 Bahts each. Then there's also the many stalls that sells t-shirts, jeans, hats, souvenirs, deco items, cooking utensils...
While it is exciting that Chatuchak is so big, it is quite disappointing in the sense that most stalls are repetitive, some things are not really that cheap, and it can be real stuffy and hot when you're walking in there. The good side though is you can get some really good bargains and out of the ordinary things here, so I would say it's a good experience.
Chatuchak food pictures up next!
