The lure of weekend markets & night bazaars

In the Chatuchak area of Bangkok, every Saturday and Sunday there is a weekend market, thus the now somewhat famous Chatuchak Weekend Market. Sometimes it is spelt as Jatujak. But, however it is spelt or mispronounced, Chatuchak is a market selling any and every kind of things you might ever want and even some you do not necessarily want but still ended up buying. Chatuchak is also a source of headache of monumental proportions. The heat, the sweat and a host of other bodily discomforts would see to it that you would return to your hotel room a few kilograms lighter with a heavy throbbing at the temples to boot.

What used to be a place where the masses shop has turned into a place where you go to rub shoulders with the rich and famous of Bangkok if not the whole of Thailand. Sort of a Thai St Tropez but minus the sand, sea and women clad in scanty bikinis. But my bet is the rich and famous just come to Chatuchak to be seen. To show they are cool and no different from the rest of us mortals. A way of saying we are still one of you and that we have not forgotten our roots and humble beginnings although we could certainly shop in trendier places now.

Still the rich and famous come to Chatuchak for the PR mileage. Walk around and looking interested in cheap t-shirts, sometimes posing for photographs with some eager fans, sign a few autographs, then walk off in search of something before eventually leaving much lighter then when they had first come. After a few more smiles and returning a few more obligatory wais (the Thai greeting) off they troop to the much trendier and cooler climates of the Paragon (at last count still the biggest shopping complex in Southeast Asia when it opened last year) for some English tea and crumpets. And to catch up on the latest gossips.

Still nothing like Chatuchak as a place to hang out and work up a sweat to lose that extra flab around the middle. No amount of preparation, short of wearing an air-conditioned suit will keep you from losing body fluid by the gallon. Now that sure beats going to the gym if you ask me. You can work up a sweat at no cost at all, except probably the few bahts you pay the tuk-tuk driver to take you there in the first place. Still if you do not experience the heat, the sweat and every other creature discomforts that come with it, including your tummy acting up just as soon as you step into the vicinity, then it would not be Chatuchak. It would be Suan Lum Night Bazaar, the sanitised and orderly night market with its more upmarket restaurants and bazaars. In contrast to Chatuchak, Suan Lum is the place for cool evening walks where you could pop into a fancy restaurant for a bite or a cup of latte after a pleasant evening stroll.

If you desire a jaunting which is a cross between Chatuchak and Suan Lum, then Khaosan Road is the place to go. A hippie haven in the 1970s, the place had certainly undergone a transformation. It is the place to be now. The old hotels and buildings are still there. Only now they have had facelifts and tummy tucks and fresh coats of paints to keep up with the modernisation of the new century, complete with internet cafes, better restaurants and drinking haunts. Drop by after the sun goes down and soon enough you would find yourself blending in with the crowd. The short stretch of road retains its 70s attitude but embraces all the trappings of a new era. You would still find a few old hippies who may have forgotten to go home or had come back to re-live some old experiences, dressed pretty much the same way as they did 30 years ago, albeit with more money in their pockets, even after factoring in the inflation and especially after factoring in the exchange rate which is very much in their favour.

Thailand is full of such walking streets and night bazaars. You find them in most major cities. In the north the most popular is the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. Here you could find just about any handicraft item that could be fashioned out of any local product. Anything that could be sewn, moulded, carved, bent and scientifically or unscientifically turned into something saleable would be on display. Where else but in Chiang Mai would you find elephant droppings being packed in clear plastic bags and sold off as souvenirs to tourists. And mind you, there are people willing to dish out a few bahts for the honour of owning a bag of dried elephant faeces, presumably to be given away as a birthday present to the favourite mother-in-law.

Similar things could be found if you walk down the Walking Street in Pattaya. Everything else except the elephant by-product most certainly. Chiang Mai chose to retain exclusive rights on the subject of elephant post dietary movements of any sort. Just as well, because everything in Pattaya is double or treble the price of the same things found anywhere else. And if nothing else, elephant droppings should at least be a price-controlled item. Otherwise it would be the end of civilisation as we know it.

It is essential that you learn how to bargain in Pattaya. Even one who is extremely poor in that department as I, had occasionally been moved to enter into a verbal gymnastic with the sellers because of the way these petty traders and not so petty traders in Pattaya chose to price their goods. The prices naturally could be knocked down by half although they tend to turn their noses up at you just to make you feel like a cheapskate. Kind of reminds me of just such a place somewhere off Puduraya in Kuala Lumpur. No prizes for guessing the correct answer. They must have all gone to the same trade school.

Still what is life without the occasional bargains and bargain huntings? But then things in Pattaya, whether at its walking street or malls, have been known to be pricier than any other city in Thailand. This is a legacy of the Vietnam War. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, it was the place where American soldiers on a tour of duty in Vietnam come to rest and recuperate. It is debatable whether they in fact got more rest in Pattaya or in Saigon as Ho Chi Minh City was known then.

Pattaya may have changed to keep up with the rest of the world. But even minus the American soldiers on R & R, it is still very much a city catering to the whims and fancies of Caucasians, with its beer bars (which they call bar beer) and fancy hostesses. The drinks may cost more or go by a new name now. But the atmosphere is still lively and skirts still as short. Any shorter than that and you have to call them headbands.