Weekend Market
Recently I went to Chatuchak's Weekend Market again, my last visit was probably 5 or 6 years ago!
This famous place is also known as Jatujak or even J J Market, plus there are several Malls with similar products in the vicinity.
The first place to 'inspect' was Bangsue Junction, a 6-storey building opposite Entrance 1, where I found this creepy religious statue! (*)
Of course, there are a few vinyl shops as well, some selling even 78 rpm records...
FYI, I have no idea who 'Sweetmeat Joe, The Candy Man' might be! (**)
Lots of albums, however I didn't see any 45s strangely enough, but I might have missed a few shops.
Much more silver, gold, and stainless steel stuff on sale here.
Cheap toys and Thai sweets, 10 baht each...
Incredibly weird way of promoting these kid products with a picture of a baby Adolf Hitler!
More silver and handicraft stuff.
The only quiet part of an otherwise very busy food court!
Nearby relaxation area.
Some ancient toys on sale, they look very appealing.
Afterwards I walked over to the 'real' market itself and had a drink while listening to this duo belting out old classics, not bad at all!
At various places, they sell delicious coconut ice cream!
-PY!
The lane in Section 2 is narrow but has more atmosphere due to the trees.
Tourists from all over the world come here.
Checking out clothes and whatever strikes their fancy.
Specific shops catering to other Asian tourists can be found here too.
Love those 'heads'!
If you're into design, some shops sell cool T-shirts which are definitely not mainstream.
The main corridor is quite wide but can get seriously crowded from what I remember of past visits.
Great spelling led to a cool brand name.
No lack of kitsch either.
Not the usual model heads!
For me, the most interesting part was Section 7 with the work of local artists.
The owners/artists enjoying their lunch break.
They have some fascinating metal artworks as well as paintings! (***)
Other artists focus on statues...
Art and food go well together...
Cat paintings are becoming more popular...
As well as pets in general...
3D Owl piece!
It's wonderful to see how creative people can be and that there's a market for their work as well!
Waiting for customers...
Although in general, I avoid crowded places like the plague I truly enjoyed my Chatuchak 'inspection' and definitely will return for another visit later this year!
For any photographer, this market has plenty of potential photogenic moments to capture.
Even more important perhaps, some of those vinyl record shops were whispering my name...
(**) However, a little bit of Googling turned up this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUCRsjFIX7g
LINKS:
https://www.chatuchakmarket.org/ (website temporarily down?)
Nice blog again, Koen
I love it, KK. Went many times to this extraordinary place when we lived in Bangkok. One of our cats came from this market, and she is about 15 years old now.
Nice blog and great pictures. I visited this market about 6 months and was surprised that the vast majority of tourists seemed to be Asian. What was your impression?