The Sunday Markets

Manda writes:

Walking down the street towards the Tha Phae Gate, we could hear frequent whistle blowing and a general din. As we approached the Gate, we noticed more and more people, even the traffic seemed to have picked up. What was going on? The whistling began to sound more piercing as we neared the source. The police were trying to direct both the traffic and the never-ending flow of people wanting to cross the road by using plenty of animated arm movement, and superfluous amounts of whistle tooting. Before long, we realised that we'd in fact stumbled across the Sunday Markets along Ratchadamnoen Road.

The markets take place inside the moat and sprawl out of Tha Phae Gate onto the many streets that roll out in front. It's difficult to say where the markets begin and where they end. Like watching mercury in a little maze puzzle taking up every inch of space, literally every nook and cranny along the street was taken up by a stall. Even the normally tranquil Wat grounds had been taken up by entrepreneurs, keen to haggle a few extra bahts for their wares.

There was a lively feel to the place brought on by the numerous musicians making the most of the footfall. There were the obligatory old local folk playing their instruments, looking innocently and listening expectantly for the sound of a few silver coins to fall into their basket. Some musicians were as young as four years old. They played the mandolin excellently and were dressed impeccably. Many young kids were playing their instruments well into the night, with only a small lamp to give them some presence in the middle of the well-trodden path.

The old folk jamming in the market place.

The traders tend to leave you alone and are not constantly in your face. You'll hear the occasional Sawatdee-Kha ('hello') and see the ever-abundant Thai smile. But if you are not interested they leave you alone, which makes the market experience far more enjoyable than similar markets in other countries. I picked up a top and a skirt for, what in the Western world would be, a pittance. Haggling is 'expected' and traders deliberately raise their starting prices to account for this. Naturally, I took part in it and got a very good price (even though the starting price was good enough). I enjoy haggling when it is 'expected' (maybe because I'm used to haggling in the Hong Kong markets). Some of the market traders enjoy the banter too and there is definitely an art to it! Obviously, they will not sell you something if they are not going to make a profit from it. Ian absolutely hates haggling and much prefers to pay a set price, which is understandable and I'm sure the market traders will be pleased to know!

A few things caught my eye as we walked further into the mass of stalls. Firstly, monks wearing their bright orange robes could easily be seen, wandering around in small groups, checking out the merchandise. Another thing that stood out was a scruffy-looking old lady, who held two weaved baskets in her hand with what looked like a bird inside each one. She approached people, palm stretched out wide for money, presumably in return for releasing the birds. No one paid much notice to her. It was a strange concept really as it was basically kidnapping on a miniature scale. Once she'd set these free, she would no doubt try to catch some more to fill those empty baskets.

Monks check out the material goods on offer

As night drew closer, we went through the Tha Phae Gate where there were more market stalls. We heard music blasting out from some huge speakers even before we went through the gate. Great, free entertainment perhaps? We watched a number of karaoke soloists take the stage and belt out Thai songs, accompanied by a live band. We watched one after another take the spotlight and admired their confidence for giving it a go. I'd give them 100% for effort but their vocals were not great. They'd often sing out of tune and even the band had several pitching problems too. The singers had obviously put a lot of effort into their appearance - they looked all glammed up in their sequinned dresses, hair tied back neatly and caked heavily in make-up. No one clapped after each performance apart from a few Westerners in the audience. It was an eye-opener nevertheless and gave our feet a rest too!

Chiang Mai Sunday Market at night

I thought the heat would drop as soon as the sun did but this was not to be. Going back to the air-conditioned room in the hotel was nice and refreshing - a real treat from a hard day's shopping trip!

These tuk-tuks can shift when they want to.