Joe Louis goes Thai shopping
Shopping in Thailand is much more than simply an activity of purchasing. You don’t just find what you are looking for and pay for it. You engage the salesperson. You talk, you argue, you form an emotional connection. Only then do you actually start to shop.
The night bazaar in Chiang Mai is as good a market as any. It stretches across several blocks with booths and stalls lining either side. The merchandise is familiar: knockoff shirts, counterfeit purses, cheap shoes, lighters, luggage, baby clothes, etc. Everything is up for negotiation and the starting prices are never near the closing prices. Even when I’m not shopping myself I like to eavesdrop on bargaining procedures and then rate the consumer on his or her performance. Many people are happy to settle: as long as they get a cheaper price than the original, they consider it a won deal. Others are only happy if they squeeze the seller as low as he will possibly go. Of course the difference is usually only a few dollars in the end.
The Sunday Walking Market in Chiang Mai is similar to the city’s night bazaar . . . if you were to stretch it out a mile and pump it full of steroids. It is a full-on experience. We started by the gate and the line of booths kept going and going and going. I’m not sure if there actually was an end to it. If we kept walking, I think somehow we’d loop back around to our starting point, confirming that the world is in fact round.
The Sunday Walking Market may astonish in its quantity of vendors, but it isn’t much varied from other bazaars. The merchandise falls into the same familiar categories with a few surprises here and there. We bought some fruit smoothies and walked from booth to booth. I enjoyed the art section when we came upon it. Lots of canvasses laid out in the street – I had my eye on a few cartoony elephant illustrations, but didn’t really have any place to put them.
When your feet start to get tired and you need a break, head over to the food court. No it’s not like a mall with shiny signs pointing the way to franchised food stations. It’s a courtyard with more booths that happen to serve Thai food instead of elephant printed baby onesies.
Many of the stalls at the market have signs forbidding pictures of the merchandise. I don’t think they are too concerned with people stealing ideas for crappy action figures. They are probably just tired of shoppers playing with their goods and not actually buying anything. After all, it is a market where people earn a livelihood.
See what other blogs are saying about Chiang Mai markets:
“The Sunday Night Market sprawls and spews off in several directions in and around Tha Pae Gate. With such a mammoth territory to cover we decided to stick around the East Gate area of the Old City to focus on devouring Thai street food and shopping for some Thai souvenirs to send back home as presents.”
–Nomadic Samuel
“The Sunday Walking Street is actually network of several streets which all seemed to come to meet at a major intersection within the old city. You could walk for hours and hours and still not see it all. We had such an amazing time wandering around and sampling food from the street stalls – including fresh fruit shakes, noodles, curries, and deep-fried delicacies. There were musicians on every corner, incredible artists, and beautiful artwork and crafts being made right before your eyes. This market was one of the highlights of our time in Chiang Mai.”
–Adventure to Anywhere
