Weekend Market

Tonight a Tale of two Markets. Both catering to tourists. Or at least swarming with them. One awful and one great.

One of Chiang Mai’s main tourist attractions is the night bazaar. Unhappily, it turned out to be a little too good at attracting tourists, especially those willing to pay high prices. The place was costly. A little knock-off Beats bluetooth speaker, one I got for 200฿ in Bangkok then subsequently left in Bangkok was quoted at between 600฿ and 980฿. And so on and so on for all the merchandise.

Anther problem: unlike pretty much every other market I’ve been to — and most every non-market street — the night bazaar had almost no food available. Bad news for increasingly hangry shoppers out to replace some necessaries. Not a pleasant experience. I’ve since been on a second occasion and there was a separate market adjoining the night bazaar with more food options, so perhaps this depends on the day of the week.

The Weekend Sunday Walking Street market was a much more pleasant experience, however. It’s vast. They block a main artery (Th. Ratchadamnoen) in the old city and the market lines the street and the streets leading off it. The effect is amazing and much more open and spacious than the Chatuchak market in Bangkok.

And although I write that the night bazaar was expensive, it was at the weekend market I got swindled. The story goes like this: I’d been admiring these Thai shirts for quite some time. I’d catch a glimpse down the street at a market and admire them. Mental note to get one sometime. That night was the time so I approached a stall. ฿450, first offer. Way too high. ฿200? Back and forth till I get ฿280. What a deal! Brought her down like 40%.

Experienced hagglers might see an obvious problem with this scenario. Behavioral psych nerds will notice the anchoring, and who set the anchor. As we continue walking down the street, I see another stall selling my shirt. This time with a sign listing the price as … ฿100. Burned!

But that doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of the market. The place has an amazing variety, both of goods and of food. A massage right on the street for ฿80 made me panic with pain it was so good. Chive dumplings were incredible. Handmade postcards I regret not buying…

The summary is simple:

  1. For commodities, check several stalls. This is a no-brainer and I’ve done it before, but it slipped my mind this time. Anyway. Now I know that for the equivalent Thai pants, anything less than ฿150 is no deal.
  2. The weekend walking market is the best in Chiang Mai
  3. A market is enjoyed best when you’re not looking for something. Especially not something uncommon. Walking to from stall to stall with a particular item in mind is fun at first, but gets wearying
weekend market at night