Exploring Bangkok Markets

Words: Thea Easterby

It is hard to come to Bangkok and not be amazed by its abundant number of markets. Markets are scattered throughout the city and sell everything from clothes to fresh food to bike parts.

If you think the markets are for the tourists, think again. The Thai people shop extensively from the markets, particularly when it comes to food. The one exception to this is the markets in the busy Khao San Road area where many stalls are specifically targeted towards travellers and backpackers.

Since many Thais work long hours, it makes sense that they would need to be able to do their own shopping at the markets after they finish work. Some of the street markets are open quite late. It was normal for me to go for dinner and drinks and for the markets to be still open long after I was tucked into bed.

A Chinatown tour with Urban Adventures has us wondering through the Pak Khlong Flower market (not often frequented by tourists but well worth a look for all of the stunning displays of colourful flowers). This is the place to see marigolds, the striking yellow flower you see on all of the shrines and spirit houses around Bangkok, literally by the truckload. My tour guide laughs when I tell him that orchids are expensive at home. At the flower market, there are mounds and mounds of them ready to be bought and used in the many hotels across town. Another pricey item at home, roses are cheap and plentiful here.

My tour guide Nop describes the Klong Thom market as the ‘boys market’ and I can certainly see why. This mainly undercover market is where you come to buy engine parts, handyman tools and electrical products. If you are looking for textiles and fabrics, head to the Indian Market on the fringe of Chinatown.

There is even an amulet market adjacent to Wat Mahathat, though I have to admit it takes me a while to get my head around this one. Thai men with eyeglasses scan the amulets, though I have to admit to an untrained non-Buddhist eye, many look the same. The amulet market is also the place to purchase traditional Thai medicine.

I didn’t experience it myself but I heard the Chatuchak weekend market is one of the largest markets in Bangkok.

The one problem with markets can be when you are focused on getting from A to B and everyone else is focused on shopping. On several occasions when I was on my way to dinner or lunch, I got stuck in one of the many footpath markets selling clothes, handbags and the like. Pedestrian traffic can come to a standstill or move at a snail’s pace. If this happens to you - stay calm, be patient and smile.

Bangkok Thailand - What 10 things can YOU learn from it?

The Huffington Post got it so right and so wrong with its blog today, 10 Things that Americans can Learn from Bangkok.

The "Blade Runner" reference is accurate though tired, and we're only talking about a small part of the Sukhumvit and Silom areas. Unless of course you were referring to the other Blade Runner du jour, Oscar Pistorious!

But I must wholeheartedly nod my head in violent agreement that a lot of structures and practices would NOT pass cursory inspection the developed world. Everyday walking down the street I see a million different things that might prematurely terminate my life. And that's just my little soi. But this is actually what I enjoy most about living in an emerging country such as Thailand. It's not pre-ordained, and Buddha only knows what is around the next corner.

Point 7 is where the writer gets it horribly wrong: "International is a state of mind". I am sorry, but the one thing holding Thailand back the most is a TOTAL LACK of global mindset. They are constrained linguistically to absorbing mostly what their own culture and media throws up, circles within circles. And Korean soap operas. There is barely any interest in happenings in their own country outside Bangkok, let alone the rest of the region or world for most. Sadly the Thais are not hungry thinkers, and do not generally possess a curious mindset. That's the reality. But this probably won't concern someone just travelling here for some sun and fun.

Instagramming about Suvanabhumi airport does NOT equal 'international' mind set per se. That's like saying because I like ladies in tights I must therefore enjoy the ballet!

It just means that 22,000,000 inbound tourists are jamming their way through it.

And I am really sorry, Huffington Post, English has NOT "all been adopted as a common language". I have travelled to 55 countries and struggle to think of a country (except perhaps outer Mongolia) where I struggled to communicate on a daily basis as much as here. And I studied Thai -- although I am reliably informed that I speak it like a 16 year-old Cambodian boy. Unless the writer ensconced themselves deeply and solely within the tourist belt of Khao San Road (oh, sorry, I see you went to Chatuchak Market as well, which is an awesome weekend market but frankly just as touristed as Khao San Road).

Even in the heart of Sukhumvit Road, another tourist and expat enclave, I can barely get two words out of most 7-11 clerks, bank tellers, waitresses (in any language, let alone English) so I don't see where English comes into play.

AEC 2015 is just 2 years away now and Thailand will get its arse kicked by lack of competitiveness purely on a language basis. Note: I'm not taking an imperialistic/ colonial standpoint here -- I would equally advocate they study Chinese as much as English. But get with the program, Thailand ...

It's a global village and no-one else speaks your language!

Where the Huff gets Bangkok spot on is all about the street food, and the passion of Thais for food culture. See the earnestness with which an Isan lady pounds the many ingredients for a somtam to get the consistency and spice kick just right.

They also make accurate observations about the Chao Phraya River ... a real working river and always a pleasurable way to while away some hours watching barges ply upriver, or see long-tail boats blasting their way across. And the canals add a distinctive air (literally, sometimes!) to the urban landscape.

Spot on, too, about Bangkok's hip street fashion. But go beyond Platinum Fashion Mall and get into the labyrinthine Siam Square area, teeming with students and hipsters and the next wave of big name Bangkok designers.

Haha, I just read the Coconuts Bangkok blog on this, which referred to Huffington Post's effort as "a new apogee of strained credibility". That it sure is, when -- although the political protests rarely affect tourists directly -- I almost got caught up in the Great Red-Shirt Shoot-out of 2010, and I am not sure how tanks, burning buildings, squads of soldiers and scores of deaths qualify as a "peaceful" model of democracy in action.

Epic fail, Huff Post! Mai dee loei.