The Markets of Chiang Mai
Or
What To Do After The Elephant Ride

Chiang Mai is all about shopping. Well, at least from the touri point of view. From The Thai point of view it’s all about separating you from some of your cash. Hopefully lots of it. Yes, there are elephant camps to visit, treks to Disneylandesque styled hill tribe villages, rafting excursions up and down the Ping river, and other assorted outdoorsy-type day trips designed for the touri. But in reality, it’s shopping that sets Chiang Mai apart from the other major visitor destinations in Thailand.

While there are plenty of older and middle-aged touri around, the majority of visitors seem to be of the early 30 and under crowd, attracted to this metropolitan city of the north due to the numerous trekking excursions available and the opportunity for visiting exotic villages filled with unusual ethnic folk. At least that is the dream. The trekking will turn out to be along well travelled paths filled with all of the people you thought you left in town, and the exotic villages are well-staged sets where your opportunity to mingle with the locales is limited to taking their picture (and paying for it) or buying some of their handicrafts, which you already saw in abundance at cheaper prices back in town.

Partying the night away, however, has been handled well as their are several areas catering to the backpacker crowd filled with a plethora of bars, pubs, and seedier establishments where you can kill off brain cells to your heart’s delight. One of the Brits I hooked up with and spent a few days partying with noted that it’s nice that the tourist will never ruin Chiang Mai because the locales have already done so, but in a kinda nice way.

January is a great time to visit. The temperature almost qualifies as cool. Locals bundle up with chills. You’ll find you do not need to run the a/c unit at night and will still awake to a bit of nip in the air. Makes for exploring the markets exceptionally enjoyable. The market you can not help but not miss is aptly called ‘The Night Market’ located along Changklan Road just outside of the old city. About 20 blocks long, the market comes to life around 7 at night. Vendors operating out of 8 foot long carts line the street offering every sort of local handicraft and knock-off you could possibly want. And don’t worry if you walked past the dubiously silver plated Tiffany jewelry booth without stopping because there will be another few dozen duplicate booths yet to come.

These ‘temporary’ seller stalls line the street side of the sidewalk while permanent stores and malls line the other side (offering the same wares as the nightly vendors and often only open the same hours). Prices are a bit less than in Bangkok, providing you bargain well. Though I noticed that the initial asking price seems to drop quickly with nothing more necessary on your part than a bit of silence. First time visitors will be enthralled with the goods offered; twenty years of visits makes you shake you head over the fact that the same crap is being sold that was available the first time you flew into town. Delighted or jaded, you’ll spend hours roaming the night market in Chiang Mai.

As humongous as the night market is, it pales in comparison to the Sunday Market (uh, held on Sundays) along Rajdamnern Road starting by the Thapae Gate by the Montri Hotel. If you make the trip to Chiang Mai, make sure you include a Sunday night to not miss this market. The locals come out for the Sunday Market, more Thais filling the street than touri. They close down the streets in this area for vendors to set up stalls along the sides and down the middle of the streets. These are more the ‘umbrella over the stall’ type set-ups than the metal carts used in the night market. The same stuff you’ve already seen there is readily available at the Sunday market, too, but there is also tons of merchandise offered by local entrepreneurs that will be new to you. Lots of crafts, tons of food, art and paintings galore. Locales bartering with much more aplomb than touri (watch and learn), sidewalk cafes to rest a bit in and watch the people walk by, and monks! I can not tell you how big this market is as it also spills along several side streets and plazas. I can tell you that as big a fan as I am of night markets in Asia, after walking in one direction for over an hour I still couldn’t see the end of the market in front of me and started thinking, “Enough!”

A few tips: Bring your camera . . . lots of great shots available here; as they drive on the ‘wrong side of the road’, Thais walk on the wrong side too so the crowd will move in the opposite direction than your natural inclination (join them or be crushed). Prices, even on the stuff you’ve already seen at the Night Market, will be cheaper here, so its a great time to actually buy some stuff. It is, after all, your duty as a touri to pass some of that cash along to the local economy.

Ramble On . . .

Mosey On Back . . .

Entrance To The Rabbit Hole . . .

SIGHTS OF:

Chiang Mai Sunday Market

Chiang Mai