According to the official website, the Chatuchak market is one of the largest weekend markets in the world. It’s open every Saturday and Sunday from 6am-6pm and offers a wide variety of products for sale from terribly made trinkets to surprisingly high quality clothing. Thus far, I have ventured to this market twice and although I haven’t walked by every stall, I’ve managed to get a general idea for the kinds of things you can find there.

The easiest way to reach the market is by taking the BTS sky train all the way out to the Mo Chit stop. Exiting the train it becomes apparent that most everyone will also be heading to the market as it’s quite a popular destination on weekends. Once you reach street level, there is the normal smorgasbord of people peddling wares. The easiest thing to do is make an immediate right into a small park that lies adjacent to the market. You can walk through this park and gain easy access to the outer stalls.

The market itself is arranged in rows of covered stalls that extend the entire length of the place. In between each row are streets that are crowded with people and vendors selling all manner of items. Plenty of booths lie inside each row and because of the large nature of the market, it is easy to become disoriented and potentially lost.

We entered the market from the east side, which is where the nicest clothes appear to be sold. Most of the places in this section don’t appear willing to barter but the occasional blast of A/C from one of the stalls can be refreshing. If you’re looking for cheap knock-offs, it’s best to head deeper into the market.

One thing I noticed as I started looking at the various booths is that often times different people will be selling the exact same item. If you aren’t able to negotiate a price you want for a certain item, often you can just leave and try again at a place right down the row. This gives the illusion of variety in a huge market but the amount of stalls selling unique items is substantially lower than the total amount of stalls. Even something as seemingly remarkable as this crab sculpture could be found at multiple stalls in the market.

While the market sells a lot of cheap consumer items, there also exists a somewhat darker side to the market. Towards the west end, there is an area where booths sell all kinds of live animals from puppies to turtles. While cute and seemingly cuddling, the puppies and kittens for sale scream “puppy mill.” The place is definitely worth a walk through simply to see the somewhat unique animals on sale but be warned: it can be quite stuffy and could trigger allergies.

Overall the market is a great place to buy cheap clothes, trinkets, and other assorted crap and is definitely worth a visit. Contrary to what I’ve read at other places online, you probably don’t need more than a few hours to really experience the market because plenty of places are really just selling the same things. As with all touristy places, be wary of pick-pockets and know that bartering is essential to getting a good deal.

You can find more about the market at their website: http://www.chatuchak.org/