How to Shop at the Chatuchak Market

35 acres and 15,000 markets, this is the best way to introduce the world-famous Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, Thailand for you. Everybody loves to take some souvenirs when they go back home. Look no further than this market to buy any souvenir you want. The whole shopping experience is going to be fun, and you will quickly adjust yourselves to shop like a local here in this market, which is exciting and interesting at the same time.

Where is this market?

This market is in Bangkok, Thailand and if you are someone spending your holiday at a service apartment in Bangkok the likes of Maitria Rama 9 Residence, you may take the Skytrain or the underground metro to directly come to Chatuchak. Taking a private cab to come to the market may seem like an easy option, but please note that the traffic congestion is terrible here and you may end up paying more money and wasting more time at the end of the day.

When to visit this market?

As you must be knowing, the Chatuchak is a weekend market which is open only on Saturdays and Sundays. The market is open from 9.00 in the morning to 6.00 in the evening, allowing shoppers to come anytime in between. The best time to visit this market will always be the morning because you'll find this shopping experience quite crazy when thousands of people start coming in the evenings. Especially if slow-walking is not your thing, choose the morning hours so that you don't need to be a part of a massive crowd.

What's so special about Chatuchak as a market?

Chatuchak Market is a huge market premise in Bangkok that offers everything that a shopper wants. So, without wasting time at other Bangkok markets, travellers directly come to Chatuchak to buy everything they need in one go, no matter how difficult the environment can get with the scorching sun, thousands of people, and all other chaos. The market has been divided into 27 different sections and this makes it easy for you to know where you should be going to buy what you need to buy. There are separate sections for furniture, books, clothes, arts, pets, ceramics, food, and plants, and these sections have been numbered as well. If you ever feel exhausted, do not forget about the wide variety of street food stalls (and carts) available in the premises, and to try out their specialties before you start your shopping sprees again.

How does haggling work here?

You don't need to have mastered negotiating skills for a great shopping experience at the Chatuchak weekend market. If you have some patience, and good observation skills you'll easily be able to grab some awesome deals, and some of these deals are even beyond imagination. Vendors here will give an initial price for you, and depending on your bargaining skills you will be able to make them drop these prices down by 35% to 50% in most of the cases. There are instances where you can go even lower, and that depends on your luck too. So understand this tip- let them first tell their price, and then you can offer a rate that's slightly lower than what you are willing to pay. Let the negotiations go for a while, and if you feel as if you are not going to make it, use the last tip. That is to pretend as if you are giving up and walk away! Sometimes, this can also be a good trigger when dealing with certain difficult vendors.